Is the Ghanaian life of less worth?

Rt. Hon Speaker, I hope this out-of-Chamber statement meets you in good health and high spirit following the festivities marking the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Christ instructed that we worship Him in spirit and in truth, for the truth shall set us free. Yes, the truth shall set us free from poverty, violent crime, corruption, mediocrity and hypocrisy among others.

Respectfully Rt. Hon Speaker, let me draw your attention to Armed Robbery cases from Wa West across the valleys in Sissala East to Bawku West, not forgetting about the millions of frustrated unemployed youth, due to our failure to transform “Galamsey” into a decent community mining programme.

The wrong analysis and appreciation of the “galamsey menace” led to it being defined mainly as a security challenge resulting in the establishment of Operation Vanguard. The failure of the Operation is glaring to every Ghanaian despite the huge sums of money sunk into it.

The Operation Vanguard Strategy has failed and we need to rethink quickly as a country to protect our natural resources and channel the energies of the teeming youth into productive ventures. This can contribute to our effort to move the economy from taxation to production. It’s my hope that the National Dialogue on small scale mining scheduled for April 2021 will produce a National policy on the subject.

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Rt. Hon Speaker, impunity by Land guards, shooting of officers in uniform, broad daylight robbery coupled with the youth engaging in ritual murder in line with many money rituals advertised daily on some Television Stations with tacit approval by our silence as a nation, are becoming the new signature of Awutu Senya East Constituency.

I cannot join the millions who unfortunately have thrown their hands in the air hoping for a miracle from heaven. The miracle is within our collective action.

Rt. Hon Speaker, we have 517 people perishing through road crashes in the first two months of 2021, yet issues of road safety do not attract the highest national attention. Furthermore, preventable deaths over the years from head-on collisions due to the lack of dualisation of our major roads cannot be emphasized enough.

The worth of human life seems to be dropping to its lowest ebb in our dear nation. This emerging un-Ghanaian vice if not nibbed in the bud has the potential to result into a security challenge with cascading impact.

As representatives of the people, I am calling on you to use your good offices to draw the attention of the Chairman of the National Security Council, Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to provide leadership to arrest this social decay.  Uneasy is the Head that wears the crown. The rot may not have started during his regime but his leadership is being called upon to arrest further social decay.

All these security cracks make the country vulnerable to acts such as terrorism and the culturally distasteful LGBTQI+.

Mr. Speaker, I wish I could wait for Parliament to resume in the next five(5) weeks, but due to the urgency of these matters of security concern, I deem it necessary to file my concerns out of session hoping you will give it the needed attention.

Time is of the essence in these matters, and I humbly pray that with your strategic position, you will use your good offices to activate a discussion at the National Security Council level.

As a temporary measure, I recommend the following;

1. One Formed Police Unit each in Awutu Senya East Municipality, Wa West, Sissala West and Bawku West Districts.
2. Use Smart Policing (Police +Academia) to conduct research into the violent crime association within Kasoa and its environs.
3. Implement a Smart Traffic Project to reduce road crashes.
4. Revamp Police Visibility.

We cannot be said to be on a path to economic transformation and national development if we fail to affirm the intrinsic value of human life.

The 64-year-old Ghana is the product of our thoughts and actions.  We cannot transform without much needed mental renewal required to activate reforms. Past glories are deceptive and imprisoning.

Together, we can make Ghana the nucleus of Africa.

Please accept, Rt. Hon Speaker, the assurances of my highest consideration.

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Source: Peter Lanchene Toobu (MP)