Mob action and the threat to societal cohesion

BY: Ruth Adjorlolo, Abla JOURNALIST.




Mother Ghana has once again been given a black eye, few months after the December 2016 general election.

The outcome of the polls enhanced Ghana's status as a leading democratic nation in Africa.

However, recent developments with regard to repugnant acts of vigilantism have shown the world that all is not well with our systems.

Ghanaians have a duty to project positive image for the country all times.

Instance justice reared its ugly head in Kumasi recently when a suspected female thief was subjected to inhumane treatment.

The young lady was brutally molested by a mob of men. She was stripped naked, beaten up and sexual molested in the full glare of the public.

The incident was filmed by someone who later publicised the videos through social media. How can some people be cruel and heartless.

This action cannot be justified under any circumstances.

In a democratic dispensation the rule of law reigns supreme. So the logical thing was to send the suspected thief to the police station.

How come she has to suffer such dehumanising treatment? Sad indeed! Whether Ghanaians have lost trust in the judicial system or not, democratic principles demand that suspects are taken through a trial process to prove their innocence or otherwise.

Even convicted criminals have rights, and there is no justification for what happened to the lady in the Kumasi incident. Many have tried to justify mob action or instant justice with the excuse that the judicial system is slow and corrupt.

Those who hold on to such view think,exacting instance justice on suspected criminals, especially those ‘caught in the act’ would deter others.

No matter how one looks at it, this is no excuse for people to take the law into their hands.

Lawlessness and wickedness move hand-in-hand, therefore, taking the law into one's hands would leave us with very wicked system where cruelty would become the order of the day.

The brutality in Kumasi also raises questions over the readiness of law enforcement agencies to really respond to the needs of the people when they are in danger.

Where was the Police during the attack on the alleged thief in Kumasi? Were attempts made to contact them? And how long did it take them to get to the scene of the incident? It is good and refreshing to hear that, many activists and concerned Ghanaians have condemned that shameful attack on the suspected thief.

The condemnation is a good start to addressing the issue.

Equally refreshing are reports that the Police have apprehended some twenty persons in connection with that unlawful act.

If the Police were to exact instant justice on these suspects in the name of stopping the act, can it be said to be right or wrong.

Ghana has come a long way from the days where people resorted to cruelty to settle matters.

The constitution of the land is very explicit on how to treat people who go against the laws of the country.

This incident should not be allowed to die a natural death.

Anyone who took part in it should be made to face the full rigours of the law to serve as a deterrent to people with such intent.

They must also be made to compensate the victim for disgracing her in public and publicly apologize to all women of Ghana for degrading womanhood. Instant justice has no place in Ghana and must not be allowed to take roots.

There is the need for public education on the need to uphold the rule of law and respect for the rights of every citizen, especially women and children who are vulnerable.

Every Ghanaian is entitled to their inalienable innate rights as human beings.

Let’s stop instant justice now and other actions which will dehumanise women and children now!!!

UN Agencies call for urgent action to address Somalia drought

Two agencies, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) have asked the world to act now to save lives in Somalia where a devastating drought is affecting more than six million people, or nearly half the population.

They say the drought is threatening Somalia's fragile population, already battered by decades of conflict.

People are living "hand-to-mouth" and whole villages have lost their crops or seen their livestock die.

Photo: UNICEF/Sebastian Rich: A pastoralist in northern Somalia, a region hit hard by drought. He lost almost half of his sheep flock that originally numbered 70.

The Writer Ruth Abla Adjorlolo

THE NEED TO ADEQUATELY RESOURCE THE STATE BROADCASTER, GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION (GBC)

Once again the need to resource the state broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), to carry out its mandate of informing, educating and entertaining Ghanaians in line with statutory principles, has come to the fore with Minister-designate for Information, Mustapha Hamid, hammering on it during his vetting in Parliament. 

Mustapha Hamid, who took his turn at the vetting on Thursday, hinted that, if confirmed as minister, his Ministry will collaborate with GBC to enable it raise its own funds through the revamping of the ongoing TV license fee collection.

According to him, this would make GBC financially independent like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Britain’s state broadcaster. This statement was in response to the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu’s question on how he would improve the quality of pictures on GTV in some parts of the country including Ho and Bole.

Though this issue is no news to many stakeholders who have witnessed the challenging moments that GBC has gone through over the years, it is important to look at it more critically at this time when the proliferation of television and radio stations is regrettably dwarfing the role of GBC.

It has been said over the years that GBC is losing out in competition to the private media in this era of globalization but few are those who know that GBC was established to perform a specific role in national development that puts it in no competition with any other media establishment, whether private or public.

The responsibility imposed on GBC requires adequate funding to enable it stand out and be seen as performing its germane role in this democratic dispensation where the nation requires a neutral state broadcaster to project the cause of the people.

Just recently, one of the political parties accused GBC of partiality in the performance of its duty of informing the public on the activities of the political parties. However, little was considered in assessing the resources at the disposal of the corporation in relation to the enormity of the job at hand.

The likes of BBC and other state broadcasters in the world, are seen to be performing their roles effectively as a result of the resources placed at their disposal. For instance, the BBC has its funding guaranteed by the constitution and insulated from any manipulation or control from any political quarters.

When one juxtaposes BBC’s case to the situation GBC finds itself in, it is not hard to conclude that the latter is nowhere near the former in terms of conducive conditions to perform their duties.

GBC recently introduced the TV License fees to serve as a source funding to guarantee the public broadcaster’s independence and self-reliance but that exercise has not yielded any great result. There are reports that the corporation is spending more to collect the fees than it is receiving, as the Minority Leader stated.

It is, therefore, refreshing to know that Mr. Hamid has some plans on making the revenue-generation efforts of GBC more efficient in rejuvenating the strength of the corporation to make the needed impact in the media circles.

Also, Mr. Mustapha Hamid said he had an interaction with the Director General of GBC, Dr. Kwame Akufo Anoff-Ntow, who revealed that GBC had started a modernization programme in 2007 which is being implemented. 

In spite of that, Dr. Kwame Akufo Anoff-Ntow made it clear that, with enough financial support from government, GBC will be able to complete most of its projects to help boost its coverage and operations. 

So, the problem of the state broadcaster is clear: lack of resources from government to implement its policies and perform its role.

It is hoped that this promise from the Minister-designate would not be a mirage or an approval-seeking statement to please Parliament but rather a statement of commitment to the national cause through the establishment of an independent and well-resourced state broadcaster that would rub shoulders with the BBC’s and other public broadcasters elsewhere in the world.