In countless times General Arts students come across the cliché “Everyone is equal before the law”, as a keen phrase in the study of the Arts course. A critical analysis of the happenings in our motherland makes the aforementioned cliché a mere saying that affects the minors as in the case of the animal kingdom. The prerogative power of mercy, the diplomatic immunity, veto power, free press, ex-gratia and some notable exclusivities make our law questionable when it comes to “Equality”.
Now, reflecting on the trending issue with regards to the three nation breakers affectionately called Montie Trio: Salifu Maase (aka Mugabe), Alistair Tairo Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn thought they could equate an FM studio console and the microphone with a gun. These press men, because of their political affiliations, forewent all the media ethics and said the very things which ruined Rwanda sometime ago. Ghanaians continue to say Ghana is a God-loving country, however, we should not forget that the war-torn countries were equally created by the same God.
“The whom you know”, an attitude that is killing our educational institutions in terms of admission and the job seekers has also gain a solid root in our political dispensation. Can anybody signing in the petition book of the “Montie Trio” tell us what the state of this country would be if the gun rules in this modern era of globalization? We cannot build the foundation of a state without the basic principles of the Rule of Law. Prerogative power of mercy does not mean pardon of envy. Therefore, to avoid the state of anarchy, our social stability must not be threatened. When justice is more certain and more mild, it’s at the same time more efficacious. We are living in a country where our fellow countrymen and women in politics live in opulence and wallow in untold riches with their mansions encased with six-feet walls to avoid the eyes of the poor.
Fellow countrymen and women, the effect of lawlessness and lack of enforcement of the Rule of Law is very grave. Therefore, in exercising this element of presidential pardon as the enemies of our society are crying for, we must not discriminate regardless of one’s social status and party affiliation. We must all bear in mind that if one tramples on another’s right to seek his or her own parochial interest, then he or she will be disappointed in the end. It is the duty of those in authority to help us build up this country and not to ruin it.
It’s very sad and even more unfortunate that the likes of the Cabinet ministers, Lawyers, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection are all singing the petition for the release of the contemnors in the name of party politics while they relegate the interest of the society to the background. Have we forgotten the basic social contract of rights and responsibilities that binds us together as a society? Citizens and institutions make up a society and so the citizenry must not downplay the laws in order to protect the institutions like the court of competent jurisdiction as Barack Obama, the president of America posited on his first visit to Ghana that, “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions”, and this will make our world a better place to live. I think we’re lost as a nation, because the very people who must know the right thing and code of ethics have failed us. Meanwhile, peace is the most expensive thing that money cannot buy when it is lost.
At every summit of the United Nations, the members try to figure out how to restore world peace in the war-torn places, however, no proper solution has been erupted. If you don’t value the peace we have as a nation then read ” When Gun Rules” by Kofi A Jackson, an ex-military man in relation to the June, 4 incidents.
In a democratic dispensation like ours, equality before the law must be our topmost priority so that the right and freedom of others will be protected. Now, we are looking at the freedom of the Montie Trio whilst the judiciary is been looked down upon. Have the petitioners considered the precedence that will be set when the president pardons them? An excerpt of Kwame A plus, a renowned musician on his facebook timeline reads: “…..People are organising press conferences for and against the release of the Montie Trio.
Nobody really cares about the man whose child is dying of malaria right now. No one cares about that little girl who is dying because there is no oxygen in the hospital. No one cares about the people who drink from the same pond with animals. No one cares about the thousands of people in jail. They can rot in jail because they know no big men.” This is how far we’ve come as a nation because of politics and the dying desire to achieve dubious power to rule, loot and share the national cake to enrich themselves! Freeing the trio will not be of any importance to our democratic dispensation.
There are more innocent souls in the prisons who need this pardon than those rebellious hearts who agitated that they don’t fear to be in the prisons. The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law. It’s hypocrisy at the apex that will make one sign for such criminal acts. As elections is just around the corner, we must condemn any act that can trigger violence. Equality, Peace and Justice is all what we need before, during and after the elections.
The law is not the private property of the executive or those in the ruling party. We must be committed to the mutual respect and the liberty of each and everyone of us. If the president pardons the Montie Trio, then another presidential amnesty must be granted to all prisoners in the length and breadth of this country because they all hail from a family, aside humanity has no boundary because we’re all equal in the sight of the ultimate reality.