It is easier said than done!

The holy scripture in St. Luke 6:44 teaches that each tree is recognised by its own fruit: "For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush." In a commentary, Gill explained that "good and bad preachers are known by their doctrines, the one being agreeable, the other disagreeable to the word of God; and good and bad men are known by their lives and conversations: the grace of God revealed to good men, and wrought in them, teaches them to live soberly, righteously, and godly; a holy life is the fruit of grace, and an evidence of it; and the wickedness that is in the heart of unregenerate men, and even the hypocrisy of formal professors, will show themselves in the common and ordinary course of their conversations." 

 

A speech delivered by His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills, President of the Republic of Ghana, at the 66th General Assembly of the United Nations, on Friday 23rd September, 2011 in part captured the following assurance to the international community on his pledge to ensure violence free, free and fair elections.  "On the political and security fronts, Ghana recognizes the paradigm shift, or at least a shift in emphasis from national security to human security.
It is human security targeted interventions that would help best define our national security.
We are therefore pursuing relevant action to concretize this concept through appropriate legal institutional and operational reforms.
We are also committed to the global norm of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and will continue to work closely with member-states, UN Friends of R2P, and the UN as a whole.
The Government has taken measures to strengthen the rule of law by enacting appropriate legislation to promote accountability and good governance, protect human rights, ensure the independence and integrity of the judiciary, free and fair elections, and the freedom of the media. 

Mr. President,
A year from now, Ghana will be going to the polls to elect a President and Members of Parliament for another 4 year term.
To ensure that Ghanaians enjoy an election which is peaceful, free and fair, the Electoral Commission, which has successfully conducted the last three elections, since 2000, has put in place measures that will safeguard the rights of the people to elect a government of their own choice.
Ghana’s democratic credentials stand tall, and we intend to keep it that way.
Mr. President,
Just as the United Nations and the international community kept an eye on the 2008 elections in Ghana, it is our hope that the same thing will be done next year."

As the adage goes 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating'. The evidence that demonstrates a truth of President Mills' assurance came seven months down the line, when he addressed a durbar of chiefs in the Central Region to inspect the ongoing biometric voter registration exercise on Friday 13th April 2012.  

"There are some who also think that the President should be directly in charge of  enforcement of laws. Indeed, unfortunately the President is not a law enforcement officer. The President cannot be a prosecutor, these are not powers which are conferred on the President. The President's responsibility is to ensure that the security agencies are in a position to perform their given assignments. It is important that we all deal with one another in an open manner and in the best of faiths." 

Generally speaking, business is based on performance, that is the real world and so he who hires also fires. The question is, was the assignment given to the student or to the parents? On 7th January 2009, was it the IGP, Attorney-General, CDS or the President who was given charge of Ghana? Who appointed who to position of trust? Can any Ghanaian sack the policeman for non-performance or only few privileged Ghanaians? Your Excellency Mr. President, you have the mandate and the bulk stops at your door. If the man you trusted with the responsibility to keep peace is failing, you exercised wrong judgment and fortunately for you, you have the opportunity to remedy the situation. It is absolutely unthinkable for you to shirk responsibility. It is a sign of a weak leader and there had been too many of such instances where you have unsuccessfully sought to conveniently excuse yourself from blame. The reason your party founder was called Junior Jesus was his willingness to die in place of all his colleague conspirators during the 15th May 1979 foiled uprising. He aired the grieves of all the people in the country when he said they should let all his peers go and hold him accountable. It was the trial that generated the momentum and inspiration for junior officers, led by Captain Boakye Djan to plan another mutiny. Your oath of office enjoins you to be the number policeman in Ghana considering that you are the Commander-in-Chief and you surely do not need any reminder of your roles.  In case you slept on the job, this is free education.