COOL HEADS MUST PREVAIL AT EJURA

In the last few days, groups of angry youth demanding justice for murdered social media activist Ibrahim Mohammed have been on a rampage, burning tyres and demolishing structures at Ejura in the Ashanti Region.

Whilst the angry youth may have overreacted in acts of mayhem, that clearly was no excuse on the part of the security agencies to shoot into the crowd when there are modern and civilised methods of crowd control.

It appears our policemen and women have not attuned themselves with modern crowd dispelling methods that are effective enough in keeping exuberant youth away from trouble.

Timely probe

That is why we join the government in condemning the act, together with the lawlessness perpetrated by the youth.

It is good that President Akufo-Addo has asked for a public inquiry to be conducted into the murder, disturbances and shooting incident.

As the Minister of Information pointed out yesterday, credible investigations into the crowd rioting and crowd control incidents will bring clarity to the sequence of events, and ensure that those who acted inappropriately are dealt with appropriately.

Crime is crime

While we go through this process, we need to move away from rumours to reality in bringing healing to ourselves.

Whatever is happening in Eujra today benefits no one because crime is crime, and should be treated as such.

In this regard, we should all be singing the same tune, which is demanding proper investigations into what is purely criminal, and acting political in what should culminate in communal stability in Ejura.

We are happy that, in their own way, our traditional and religious leaders are making efforts to manage the situation to prevent it from exacerbating.

Additionally, while the leaders of the community engage in diplomacy in toning down the agitations, we expect the angry youth to listen. This is because they have no lawful solution to the matter.

This is also time for all civil society actors, including journalists and politicians, MPs and party communicators, to stick to the issues objectively and professionally.

We also expect the Executive to use its security network to douse the flames and give hope and assurance that Ejura will bounce back again as a peaceful, economically vibrant community.

Ejura must not burn

It is in our collectively interest to ensure that Ejura does not burn, especially in view of the strategic roles people in the community play in providing food to feed the population, and even getting surpluses to sell to neighbouring countries.

That is why politicians, especially, should not allow themselves to be caught in partisan propaganda that could escalate the situation there.

Again, instead of politicians instigating the youth to engage in political excesses, we would urge them to be loyal actors in their communities in positive activities, rather than in negative activities that have the potential of wrecking the future of the youth.