NPP Flag
There is a worrying instance of political persecution in the case of four New Patriotic Party (NPP) activists arrested in Tamale.
They have been in detention since the early days of this current administration.
They have been moved from one prison to another as a way of killing their spirits and reducing them to mere objects in the hands of persons at the helm of affairs. This is happening at a time we are supposed to have transferred such human rights abuses to the dark chapters of our history.
In a country in which the rule of law is touted to be a feature, such blemishes bring into question government’s sincerity in upholding this cardinal principle of good governance.
By this editorial, we are bringing to the notice of the germane political authorities this case of deliberate detention of the four men without adjudication, with a view to prompting the necessary intervention and ending such smelly arbitrariness. The detainees, being held in this manner, including their relations, have every justification to feel that they cannot expect justice in a system in which the long hand of political persecution holds sway.
It is interesting to note that these gentlemen have been held since the days when President John Mahama was Chairman of the Ghana Police Council as Vice President.
As the political season heats up, the case has begun appearing on the campaign trail and with the international community monitoring utterances of politicians, our governance standing in the comity of civilised nations cannot attract a respectable rating.
We find it ludicrous, therefore, when politicians at the helm seek to dangle so-called clean human rights records of their tenure when some of their compatriots are being held without due process of the law. We would continue to resist such attempts at throwing dust into the eyes of the people when citizens are being held in prison with no knowledge of when they would be brought before court.
Democracy does not end with the holding of elections at frequent intervals and the installation of governments. After all, dictatorships, like the Gambian one under Yaya Jameh, still organise elections and still execute those who oppose the regime.
We find it unacceptable that the four persons would continue to suffer the kind of ordeal reminiscent of dictatorships in 2012 Ghana.
If ours is a silent dictatorship, then we must gird our loins to ensure the rule of law prevails.
