Legal luminary, Stephen Kwaku Asare has kicked against the renewed calls by some Members of Parliament for each MP to be given police protection by the state.
According to Kwaku Azar as he is affectionately called, assigning police officers to each of the 275 Members of Parliament will worsen the security lapses in the country and expose the general public to insecurity.
Rather, Prof. Asare proposed an improvement in the general security of the country by getting rid of perpetrators of heinous crimes like armed robbers. He suggested that military assistance should be sought to curtail the robbery activities in the country.
“What is needed is not just a scheme to protect MPs but a comprehensive effort to rid the country of these armed robbers and their arms. The soldiers must be brought on board to declare war on the armed robbers. On the other hand, redirecting 275 or so policemen to MPs will make the country even less safe for the rest of us,” he said in a post social media.
He was reacting to renewed calls for MPs to be provided with police protection by the Minority Leader of Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, MP for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George and MP for Kumbungu Ras Mubarak following the murder of their colleague, MP for Mfantseman, Ekow Quansah.
While stating that the MPs cannot be “faulted” for calling for their protection given the spate of criminal activities in the country, the US-based Ghanaian lawyer argued that the seeming insecurity situation should be addressed holistically instead of targeting a group of people. He believes there will be less need for MPs to be given police protection if general security in the country is improved significantly.
While calling on the security service to focus on decisively dealing with the robbery incidents in the country, he emphasized the need to deal with problems that affect the entire nation comprehensively to the benefit of every citizen rather than a targeted group of people.
“If the country is safe for everyone there will be less need for police protection for MPs. We must start addressing public problems in a way that benefits everyone not just some targeted people. For instance, a good public transport system is better than giving MPs quadrennial loans to buy luxury SUVs. Investing in public utility infrastructure is better than generators in every home and office. The Police must focus more on armed robbers and less on getting ready for Election Day,” he stated.
Members of Parliament have been advocating for the state to provide each of them with security guard. Their advocacy heightened following number of attacks on their colleague MPs with some losing their lives.
The latest incident is the killing of the MP for Mfantseman, Ekow Quansah on the morning of Friday, October 9, 2020. Mr. Ekow Quansah Hayford was reportedly shot dead by suspected armed robbers while returning from a campaign trip on the Abeadze Dominase – Abeadze Duadzi – Mankessim Road at about 1:00 am.
