Questions On President Kuffuor's Narrow Escape

I have read umpteen times about the President's narrow escape from the jaws of death, so to speak,and a plethora of questions have literally been sitting at the threshold of my consciousness, waiting patiently for answers.

I would like to preface my attempt to answer the questions by saying that the perusal of the myriad of stories on the matter has underpinned my deeply held belief that security is very lax in our dear Motherland.The fact that a lot of ink has already been spilt on the accident may make this article look like a old chestnut, but I hope readers will forgive me.

How does Ghana's security apparatus compare with that of other African countries? Benchmarked against that of other African countries,Ghana's security apparatus stands out as one of the most,if not the most,shambolic and parlous.I have had the good fortune to visit,live or work in Western, Eastern ans Southern African countries and I do not think I will be sailing close to the wind if I say that our security apparatus,compared to that of these countries, pales into total insignificance.I am not advocating the adoption of extreme measures like flooding the Presidential route with thousands of soldiers armed to the teeth as if they were in Iraq or Afghanistan,but at least all traffic should come to a complete standstill when the President's motorcade is passing by.In some countries plain clothes security officers,discreetly armed,are stationed at all intersections to ensure that no vehicle comes close to the presidential motorcade.

Unthinkable as it may seem,it was the so-called ordinary Ghanaians who helped the President to get out of his damaged car,a fact that begs the question, where on earth was the President's security detail?

To say that we are still in the foothills, as far as security is concerned, would be a huge understatement. Security-wise,frankly speaking,things are at sixes and sevens in Ghana and until and unless we wake up to the seriousness of the laxity of our security apparatus, the country's entire security edifice will seize up.It will, indeed, go to hell in a handbasket.

What was the National Security Minister's reaction to the accident? Here I would like to nail my colours to the mast and say that I took umbrage at his pronouncement that those responsible for the President's security should be axed.Perhaps I am out of my depth, as far as the duties of a National Security Minister are concerned,but it is my core belief that if the Honourable Minister feels that heads should roll, he should set an example by letting his head roll first.It is a measure of the arcane manner in which we do things on our longsuffering continent that a Minister in charge of Security does not resign in the face of such an egregious security lapse, but has the temerity to suggest that those responsible for the President's security should be axed.Is this not simply a question of passing the buck?

To my mind the accident has brought to the fore the good-naturedness of Ghanaians. A President's car somersaulted a number of times and he was rescued by people he did not know from Adam.This speaks volumes about the readiness of so-called ordinary Ghanaians to extend a helping hand to someone in need without thinking of the person's political affiliation,ethnicity, religion, creed etc.

I wish our politicians would take a leaf out of the book of the Good Samaritans who extended a helping hand to the President,These were ordinary Ghanaians, not University professors,medical officers,or sartorially resplendent businessmen in designer clothes with a gold chain weighing a kilogram around their necks.These were ordinary Ghanaians who were possibly eking out a living,ordinary Ghanaians who probably did not know where the next meal would come from, ordinary Ghanaians who were, perhaps, hanging out, thinking of how to drag themselves from the seemingly bottomless pit of poverty.Perhaps they were walking majestically in their tired ''tsalewote'' or chewing roasted maize,popularly known as ''mouth organ.''

This should serve as a lesson to all of us. When we find ourselves at the fulcrum of power we should not think that we are on top of the world.We should not think that we are head and shoulders above all and sundry.We should eschew that uppity,pretentious,supercilious,hoity-toity attitude which seems to be the hallmark of most of us,not least those in power.We should remember that the tiny ant is capable of killing the elephant.Failing to respect other human beings,however lowly placed they are,is totally inimical to peaceful coexistence.As Shakespeare said, ''you should not look down on the base steps by which you did ascend.''

I do not have a scintilla of doubt in my mind that the Good Samaritans who helped the President were not motivated by expectations of a reward.The help they accorded the President was fueled by their love for their fellow human beings.It was something spontaneous, something that emanated from the very bottom of their hearts.

It is against this background that those in positions of authority should not treat the so-called ordinary Ghanaians as they would a used toilet paper.You never know when you will need the help of a so-called ordinary Ghanaian.Every Tom,Dick and Harry has an important role to play in the Ghanaian society.The shoeshine boy at Fadama,the car cleaner at Odorkor,the gravedigger at Adidome,the ''trotro'' driver at Latebiokorshie and his ''aplanke'' ,the teacher at Akropong Akwapim or Aburi Botanical Gardens, the ''kelewele'' seller at Malata Market,the gari ''zome''and beans (alias concrete) seller at Kawo Kudu Junction, the ''don't mind your wife chop bar'' owner at Kasuwa, the ''ekpe le kpedzi'' fitting shop manager at Alakpatsa Atiglinyi, the ''pito'' seller at Tamale, the night soil carrier at Agbogloshie, the self -styled medical officer who suddenly gets up,as soon as the ''trotro'' starts moving, and begins preaching about his wonderful herbal medicines that can cure all types of diseases, ranging from ''koko'' to baldness, and last,but not the least,the Lotto Professors who used to give lectures(I have used the Past Simple Tense because I am not sure whether they are still performing their professorial duties there) under trees just a spitting distance away from the august premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all have an important role to play in the Ghanaian society.

In conclusion, I would like to express my profound disappointment in some of our politicians for their gross display of unabashed insensitivity.When a misfortune befalls a political opponent,or any fellow Ghanaian,for that matter,it is tantamount to holding the wrong end of the Ghanaian cultural stick to publicly or privately express your happiness for what has happened.It is very unGhanaian,and those involved in this kind of behaviour should bow their heads in shame.It is a behaviour that bears all the hallmarks of medieval barbarism.Such people can hardly be counted among those conversant with the rich Ghanaian cultural ethos.

Tete Cobblah is a University Professor in Luanda, Angola. He is also a freelance Portuguese - English Translator. He has taught in Mexico City,the University of California in Santa Bárbara,USA, the Ghana School of Translators of the Ghana Institute of Languages. He also taught English at the United Nations School of Aviation in Kigali, Rwanda for three years.
E-mail ctetecobblah@yahoo.com.br or ctetecobblah@nexus.ao

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