The Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, ASP Afia Tenge, has disclosed she was nearly lynched by a mob, and, thus, strongly condemns the prevalence of instant justice in the country.
Narrating her ordeal on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Friday, 2 June, Ms Tenge cautioned society against the act.
She told show host Moro Awudu: “Mob action is something we have continuously asked people to refrain from because of its consequences. I, personally, almost became a victim of that. And even if we are able to get one or two persons among the mob to stand on their ground to prevent the person from being beaten or being abused in the manner it is done, it will help us.”
She recounted: “In my case, it happened in Tamale. Luckily for me, I had one person who just quickly ran after us and said: ‘Madam, these people are following you because of the type of dress you are wearing. The man quickly stopped a taxi, pushed me inside and told the taxi driver in their local dialect to quickly speed off and quickly that was how I was able to escape death. …We [Police] had gone on training, we had arrived late in the evening, so, I just took something and wore and hit the street just to get something to eat and before I could realise, a whole mob was amassing clubs and whatever to come and lynch me because I had worn something that was abominable on their land. So, if it had not taken that man to know what they were doing and quickly come to my rescue, it would have been a different story.”
ASP Tenge reminded Ghanaians that it was unconstitutional to become a law unto themselves and prescribe justice to suspected criminals in a democracy.
“Why do people think that they have the right to prescribe or dispatch punishment? Even we (police officers) can’t prescribe punishment; it’s not our duty to do so. Judicial powers do not lie in our hands, and, therefore, if we arrest anybody on the basis of suspicion of having committed a crime, we process the person to the law court and that is procedural. That is the criminal justice system.”
The debate on mob justice has strongly been revived following the death of an Army Captain in Denkyira-Obuasi on Monday, 29 May 2017.
Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama was lynched by a group of irate youth who mistook him for an armed robber after a group of people he asked directions from spotted a pistol on him. As of the time of the incident, the soldier was not in uniform.
Source: Classfmonline
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Ghanaians seems to be missing the point on the painful/dehumanizing demise of my brother, Captain Adams Mahama, the question is...Why are people resorting to mob injustice of late, it used not to be so in the early seventies and early eighties, the answer is not far fetched, Majority of Ghanaians have lost trust in the police and the courts to administer justice, so the judiciary and police service need a complete overhaul,policy makers/think thanks will have to sit and think through on what to do to boost the level of trust the ordinary Ghanaian has in these two institutions, if not bet me more of such killing will happen again, to the family of my friend Captain Mahama, please take consolation from the saying of William Shakespeare in his book "Julius Caesar", He says "DEATH IS A NECESSARY END,AND WILL COME WHEN IT WILL COME". To Captain Mahama, your handsomeness alone will attract GOD,S favor on you, REST IN PEACE,
Thank you madam, and sorry for that unfortunate incident that almost happened to you. Madam, I think the Police has a very vital role to play in our quest to eliminate instant justice completely from our system. I have lived most of my life in the village and u will find that Police in the rural areas are ill-resourced and are almost always over-powered by the "village tycoons". there are certain villages/towns that do not have Police stations and Police officers from the district dare go there for arrest. They will lynch you outright. Even in Accra, I mean Accra. when you report to the Police and you do not have money, forget it. You will be the one to provide transport for the officer/s to effect the arrest. and if you don't tip the police officer/s, you will "feel" their lackadaisical attitude. My taxi was snatched, and if I tell you the hell I went through as the victim, you will not believe me. sometimes, the crime officer will ask you to come but you will meet his absence etc in fact the up and down and frustration you will go through at the expense of your work, you will surely give up. So the Police must do their work well to win the trust of the people. Also Policing is not Accra alone, try to resource those in the hinterlands, they are really suffering.
***barred word*** woman! What are you insinuating? That people from the north are violent right? What she said is purely fabricated and lies just to tarnish the hard earned reputation of the people from the north. Wonder what this ***barred word*** woman would have said if this Mahama's case had happened in the northern region. Infact this are the things we always fight and defend, lies