Mr Peter Lanchene Toobu, Member of Parliament for Wa West, has disclosed that matters pertaining to the security of the country must not be politicized. According to him, when issues of security nature are politicized, the country is put in jeopardy.
His comments follow the Jamestown bullion van robbery attack which led to the death of a police officer and a trader.
The Wa legislator advised government to be diligent in following through with investigation of security issues since it’s spiralling out of control.
“The Jamestown incident was not an incident in isolation. These things have been happening since 2016 and all of us are in this country. When it happens, the reaction is the same, you see all kinds of big people rushing to the scene… and doing what is culturally acceptable. After a week or two, the story dies down. It is time for us to sit up as a country and move away from the level of hypocrisy; what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. Security has no colour, so when you try to politicize security, you destroy the integrity of the country. In fact that alone is a threat to national security. Politicization of the security service is a very dangerous thing”.
Spate of attacks
Mr Toobu further revealed that, the spate of attacks on police officers and civilians poses risk as the “fear of crime is actually what will eat us up”.
“When we talk about security, let’s talk about security, straight to the point. Sometimes, people wonder why as a new politician, when I’m talking about security, I look so technocratic… I should be looking political, I said no. On matters of security, I don’t have to look political, I’ll say it the way it is and make recommendations as to what can make all of us feel safe in this country.
“If policemen can go through this, how confident are the civilians who are depending on police to protect them? The constitution mandates government to equip and maintain the Ghana Police Service”.
Call for IGP resignation
Commenting on the call for the police chief to retire over the alarming rate of crime in the country, Mr Toobu explained that, the decision rests with the President. He further described the position of the IGP as one which enhances “the President’s credibility in the area of security”.
“If the President decides this morning that Mr IGP thank you very much for the few months that we’ve spent together, I want to get some fresh blood to come and re-energise the system, the IGP will be very appreciative.”
“So, if President Akufo-Addo looks at the security situation in the country and believes that the briefing from the IGP, the observation that he’s made himself and other information gathered from other security agencies points to the fact that there’s some level of collaboration and IGP is doing so well, he will allow him to continue, he appointed him”.
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