To your right fall out!

On the drill square such an order as the President issued must be carried out by the troops. Yesterday, as Commander-in-Chief, he screamed the order not to a squad but his internal security commander – the Inspector General of Police.

The President does not have to assign reasons to some of his actions. The hiring and firing of the Chief Constable is one of such discretions at his disposal as President.

Some powers belong to the President because he is the ultimate person responsible for the overall management of the country including especially its internal security.

The Commander-in-Chief expects his appointees in the security sector not to exhibit traces of weakness or inefficiency in any unit of their departments.

Yesterday, the Commander-in-Chief, in his own wisdom, took a decisive action on the man who until his ouster managed the internal security of the country on his behalf.

Although the action is coming at a time when the IGP’s extension of service is on the verge of ending a number of shortcomings, it could be adduced for the rather abruptness.

It has been a chequered two years of David Asante-Apeatu on the hot seat of IGP after he showed interest in the appointment. So much water has passed under the bridge with disturbing consequences as many Ghanaians have noted.

As an IGP, the man in charge of internal security, we expect the appointee to be up to scratch in his intelligence gathering. In a regimented security service such as the police there is no excuse for such lapse which manifested palpably in his tenure.

In some jurisdictions, some of the challenges which cropped up during the man who has cleared his desk already from the police headquarters did not prove to be the man we so much adored as the man to transform the Police Service.

Indeed, he said he was implementing a transformation agenda a project into which so many funds went into. The outcome of the agenda so far has not been significant to warrant plaudits.

The security situation under his tenure although relatively better than it was under the NDC had worrying highlights which clearly showed an intelligence failure and perhaps sabotage.

The leaked audio of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said it all about how the Police Service is a beehive of political activists. The party chairman meant it when he said the NDC had cops who were ready to do the bidding of the political grouping when 2020 is due.

With the resignation of the top cop’s scribe shedding the uniform and near simultaneously picking nomination forms for the opposition NDC constituency primary followed by a similar action in the Akropong District Police Command there was no doubt that laxity prevailed under David’s tenure.

The missing Takoradi girls and matters arising from that sad episode would have in other jurisdictions where resignations as a mark of admission of failure prompted the gentleman to follow that path of honour.

So soon the falling out of the IGP from the police lines has become a reality. Coming at a time when the appointment of the IGP has been reduced to a social media activity, with some contenders resorting to the novelty to champion their cause, the cacophony can only become intense.

 

Source: Daily Guide