Ghana on time bomb – Ex-President Kufuor

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has joined the long queue of prominent Ghanaians and security experts raising alarm over the country’s deteriorating security situation.

The two-time president of Ghana warned, the country risk sliding into anarchy if immediate steps are not taken to address what he described as “worsening youth unemployment”.

Speaking at a conference organised for the leadership of the International Democratic Union (IDU) in Accra, the former President cautioned that the current unemployment situation in the country is dire and could result in the overthrow of the constitutionally elected government.

“Populations are getting unmanageable, educated youth want aspiration and they can’t get it when developments of economies are not keeping pace with population explosion. Every year these universities and other tertiary institutions are putting out hundreds of students qualified, very intelligent, they read…understand what is going on around them. If such resourceful youth will leave universities and not counting their cousins who even haven’t gone in there but who are all smart and they can’t hope for gainful employment then I tell you there’s a measure of intolerance that even regular good governance cannot be able to cope with,” he stated.

The Former President’s cautioning comes on the heels of similar sentiments expressed by security experts and some prominent Ghanaians following the gruesome murder of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama by residents of Denkyira Obuasi, and hooliganism by NPP sponsored thugs.

A former National Security Coordinator, Brig. Gen. (Rtd) Joseph Nunoo-Mensah recently also suggested that the lawlessness being witnessed in Ghana could plunge the country into chaos if care is not taken.

“Ghana is sinking into anarchy,” the outspoken ex-military officer told Accra-based Starr FM, referring to instances of mob lynching which resulted in the deaths of a young military commander, Major Maxwell Adam Mahama and an alleged witch a few weeks ago.

Blaming the lawlessness in the country on the high rate of unemployment among the youth, General Nunoo Mensah said “We need to work to put people to proper work. They are idle and the Devil finds work for the idle hands,” the former national security advisor stated.

“Ghana is sinking into anarchy. Nobody cares. Society is gradually driving into anarchy. The policeman seeing a man breaking traffic rules must be dealt with. People must not get away with little crimes. Everybody has a job to do. Every assembly must engage in farming. You go to Winneba and all the people are doing nothing… all of us have to wake up and do something. Because we have not been handling indiscipline properly, Ghana is becoming a lawless country. There is so much hopelessness and unemployment,” Nunoo-Mensah noted.

Earlier this year, a Security Analyst with Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Centre, Dr Kwesi Anning, also described the growing lawlessness in Ghana as a serious threat to the country’s relative peace.

“There is an almost disturbing psychological acceptance that violence has become a currency that we can use either by ourselves or use to pay people to do our dirty acts for us,” he observed.

“When you lift up your arms against a representative of the state, particularly the security forces then that state is on the brink,” he said in reference to the mob attack and assassination of Major Mahama.

A former National Security Coordinator, Mr Kofi Bentum Quantson recently cautioned that the gruesome murder of Major Mahama and other lawlessness in the country in recent times could signal a repeat of the 1979 coup if immediate steps are not taken to curb creeping indiscipline in the country.

According to Mr Quantson, if perpetrators of these heinous crimes continue to go unpunished, the country may soon be up in flames.

A socio/political analyst, Mr Kwadwo Nyamba, has also been expressing fears over possible civil uprising following what he says is the general breakdown of law and order which appears to be deteriorating by the day.

Mr Nyamba, who is also afraid of a possible return to military rule, wrote on his Facebook wall, “RIP to the murdered serviceman… but many of us with our mob mentality have tacitly or openly endorsed the criminal behaviour or act that the GAF is doing currently.

“No law-abiding citizen in a democracy must endorse the lawless behaviour of the very people who should know better in their response to the most barbaric act committed by some lawless thugs in the town in question.

“Nana, shine your eyes, the military has no business to be empowered at this level. Learn from Limann. Things are falling apart………slowly… “Da Yie”!”

In a follow-up interview, Kwadwo Nyamba explained the correlation between the high rate of unemployment and crime in general, saying “unemployment, both formal and informal and the almost zero State/Central government’s help to majority of our rural folks and poor in society who have no connections to the central elite leads most of them, farmers (rural and semi-rural dwellers) and the urban poor to do whatever it takes to survive”.

According to Mr Nyamba, “most of our lands have slowly been taken over by the galamsey activities which are heavily protected by “big folks” in many ways…initially the poor whose source of livelihood (farming) was taken away got a replacement in the galamsey to use to feed his or her family…but now the galamsey is under threat from the very same middle class and political elite who have been the biggest beneficiaries.

Already, there are reports that there is uneasiness at the various military barracks and garrisons, adding to the already heightened tension in the country occasioned by activities of NPP-led vigilante groups, Invincible Forces, Delta Forces and sponsored thugs.