A Security Analyst, Professor Kwesi Aning, has rejected mounting calls for a state of emergency in Bawku, following a surge in deadly violence that has claimed seven lives in just seven days.
The decades-old conflict flared up once again over the weekend when two police officers were ambushed and shot in broad daylight by unidentified assailants, deepening fears about the worsening security situation.
However, speaking to Tutuwaa Danso on Starr Today, Prof. Aning stressed that declaring a state of emergency is not the solution. According to him, such measures have become routine and ineffective responses to a crisis that demands deeper, more strategic intervention.
“I’ve always argued and written about the use of curfews and declarations of a state of emergency. They’re a lazy response to issues that should have been addressed long before they reached crisis level. We’ve been renewing curfews repeatedly now, and on rare occasions, we invoke a state of emergency, but these measures aren’t solving the problem.”
He added that recent curfews in several towns failed to achieve their intended effect:
“The last time curfews were imposed in several towns, people were still out at night, taking potshots at the Armed Forces and the Police. That tells you something is changing. Curfews and blunt declarations of emergency alone just won’t work anymore.”
Prof. Aning warned that authorities are misreading the signs and taking comfort in temporary solutions.
“We’re losing the plot because we’re not paying close attention to what’s really happening on the ground. We keep repeating the same measures, patting ourselves on the back when we don’t hear gunshots for a week or two, and calling it progress. But let’s be honest, if we keep doing things the same way, you and I both know that by this time next year, just before Easter, we’ll still be having this same conversation.”
Source: Ghana/StarrFM103.5FM/Benjamin Sackey
