In the past decade or so, Ghana has experienced high incidence of heinous crimes mostly through mob actions. Indeed, the issue of lawlessness characterised by impunity, seems to be getting to uncontrollable heights.
The murder of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama (posthumously promoted to the rank of Major) by an ire mob, has left a scar on the foreheads of all Ghanaians. This incident and many similar cases will continue to haunt us for the rest of our lives.
We at The Catholic Standard, feel there is more to it than first meet the eye regarding the killing of Major Mahama, we are therefore waiting eagerly for the final findings of this case and how justice will be carried out.
For this and other such mob actions, we do not expect Ghanaians to be told, once again, that the perpetrators have been acquitted due to lack of evidence.
As pointed out by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, crime has no political, religious or ethnic colours. Anyone who goes contrary to the law or breaks the law ought to be dealt with in line with the demands of justice and fair play.
For that matter, we plead that no undue pressure and harassment should be put on the law enforcement bodies in the discharge of their duties.
This reckless and lawless behaviour is unpardonable and requires immediate effort to bring it under control before it gets out of hand in our society. It is a matter that ought to be treated with all the seriousness it requires to bring about sanity in our dear country.
We expect that all those who have committed such inhuman and barbaric crimes will not only be apprehended but punished according to the laws of Ghana. This we believe, will serve as a deterrent to other uncivilised people in our various communities.
The Catholic Standard supports the suggestions made by two lawyers: Gabby Asare Otchere- Darko, who said that, “When we start sentencing those who take part in mob killing to life imprisonment, then we will start succeeding with the education against it.” The other one, Raymond Atuguba, called for the strengthening of the Court System in the country and to ensure that there is justice for all, devoid of corruption or political influence.
We must resolve never to allow this kind of crime to be repeated so that we can regain if not maintain our respect as welcoming and peace-loving people. And may the international community, tourists and investors pardon us for these atrocities.
Finally, we wish to remind Ghanaians that it is only through love that we can build happy and God-fearing families, communities and the nation. And may we reflect seriously on the message quoted below:
In his Apostolic Exhortation on Love in the Family Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis says that Love endures all things. This means that love bears every trial with a positive attitude. It stands firm in hostile surroundings. This “endurance” involves not only the ability to tolerate certain aggravations, but something greater: a constant readiness to confront any challenge.
It is a love that never gives up, even in the darkest hour. It shows a certain dogged heroism, a power to resist every negative current, an irrepressible commitment to goodness. He referred to a speech/sermon delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, USA on November 17, 1957.
Here I think of the words of Martin Luther King, who met every kind of trial and tribulation with fraternal love: “The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it.
And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls ‘the image of God’, you begin to love him in spite of [everything]. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off…
Another way that you love your enemy is this: when the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it… When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system…
Hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and so on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person.
The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil… Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love”.
Posterity will not forgive us if we fail, as a nation, to let justice and love prevail in our Country.
