Security expert, Professor Kwesi Aning has charged Members of Parliament(MPs) to justify to the people of Ghana that they merit extra security protection by showing concern about the security of Ghanaians and taking steps to ensure that they are safe.
According to him, Ghanaians will grant their demand for police protection if they demonstrate through proceedings on the floor of Parliament that they are committed to ensuring that ordinary citizens feel safe in the country.
The Director of Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) disagreed that the fierce opposition against police protection for each of the 275 MPs is based on the cost that the state will incur, but rather the seeming lack of concern on the part of the MPs towards the safety of Ghanaians.
It is his view that the MPs have no moral right at the moment to demand for security protection for themselves when they have not shown concern about the daily murdering and attacks on ordinary Ghanaians.
“It is their performance and their delivery in terms of placing the general security of the state at the top of their agenda because this is not new. This has been going on for a long time that the public will say these people that we voted for, they really do care. Let’s provide them extra protection,” he said.
“Let them demonstrate by concerns that they show in terms of debate on the floor of the house about the general security of the citizenry who voted them in the first place. I think don’t it is about the 275 police officers and the cost. There is an ethical an ethical issue here,” he argued.
His remark is in reaction to renewed calls for each MP to be given police protection by some MPs, notably the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu and MP for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Dzata George following the killing of their colleague, MP for Mfantseman, Ekow Hayford Quansah.
But Prof. Aning believes while it is important for MP’s to be protected, they must first make the security of their constituents a priority in the performance of their parliamentary duties to deserve such special protection which will be borne by their constituents.
In his estimation, MPs have not shown genuine concern and commitment towards ending the daily reported killings and attacks on ordinary Ghanaians.
“We are interested in protecting the parliamentarians but it is crucial and critical that they also by their actions and words send clear signals to the public. In the last 4 years, how often has security been on the agenda (of parliament)? How often has the murder of Ghanaian taxpayers been on the agenda? How often has small arms been on the agenda?” he stated.
