Former president Jerry John Rawlings has charged Ghanaians to see the murder of the late military captain, Maxwell Mahama as a wakeup call on state institutions to live up to their duties and responsibilities in the fight against the spate of lawlessness in the country.
Addressing a large crowd of people at the palace of the Paramount Chief of the Waala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Pelpuo IV, the former president said “this should serve as a wakeup call to all of us; to government, the law enforcement agencies, the courts to wake up to our responsibilities in other to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.”
He expressed grave concerns about the way criminals are allowed to go off the hook after flouting the law.
“This did not start today. It started quit a few years ago. There are quite a few others before this one but not much has been done.”
The “boom” man expressed confidence in Ghana’s legal system but blamed government for failing to crack the whip on perpetuators of crime in the country.
“Had we reacted appropriately as a government, there is no doubt in my mind that this kind of brutal cruel behaviour could have gone on for this long.”
Capt. Mahama who was deployed to the Denyira-Obuasi community in the Central Region region together with his colleague military officers to wage war on illegal mining, was lynched by residents of the area after they mistook him for an armed robber.
Mr. Rawlings condemned the act, describing it as “uncivilized” and charged the police to speed up investigations into the matter.
“The sooner some ways are found to contain this irresponsibility, the better for all of us,” he added.
He warned that the nation will soon be heading into an abyss if government continues to give a blind eye to people with unlawful conducts.
The former military leader is in the Upper West region to climax the commemoration of the 38th anniversary of the June 4 revolution and to mark his 70th birthday.
He was met by a heralding crowd that filled up the principal streets of Wa on Saturday to catch a glimpse of him after 8 years of his absence in the region.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
