Monday,
February 11, 2013
We are angry that the government
is not solving the problems caused by foreigners, especially the Chinese, who
have entered our country anyhow and are doing acts to endanger the economy and
lives in the various communities. We are not happy that despite all the reports
of the illegal activities of these undesirables, nothing is being done to rid
us of their menace.
Forget about the actions taken
against the Fulani. Those half-hearted measures are politically motivated and
shouldn’t be applauded as the solution. Even then, how long didn’t it take
before the government put in place those cosmetic measures to contain the
situation?
Undoubtedly, the government seems
to be more focused on hardcore political issues now than stepping out to tackle
problems that threaten the economic sector. I challenge it to prove me wrong.
From what has begun unfolding, I
won’t be surprised if the local communities threatened by the influx and illegal
activities of these Chinese and others (be they from sister-states in the
ECOWAS sub-region or not) begin taking the law into their own hands, as is
evidently clear in the case of Manso
Abodom.
I am
not asking for anything verging on xenophobia; nor am I advocating inhuman
treatment for foreigners in Ghana. I am solely bothered that despite all the
overwhelming and irritating presence and activities of these foreigners, our
own government (from the national through the regional to the local levels) has
continued to stand aloof. Why should it be so?
There
is every reason to condemn the local chiefs all over the country who collude
with these Chinese undesirables to go where they shouldn’t. We have long
suspected them of doing underhand deals with these Chinese illegal gold miners,
allowing their conscience to be bought with money and petty gifts, and fronting
for them.
When
the Chinese feel so secure and emboldened by this tacit backing, they will arm
themselves to the teeth to defend what they erroneously consider their “inalienable
economic right” to exploit our mineral resources.
Why
can’t the government take prompt action to flush out those residing in the
country illegally? Why can’t it immediately establish Task Forces in all the
regions to identify these Chinese undesirables and begin taking them through the
legal process of deportation?
Why
can’t the various local and regional authorities put an action plan in place to
streamline this process of plugging all the loopholes that these Chinese
undesirables are exploiting? And the chiefs who serve as their internal
collaborators punished?
Do
we not have laws on such issues to be enforced? What are the law enforcement
agencies doing? Or are they only at post to be used against political
opponents?
Indeed,
you can tell from the questions gushing out from my head that I am really
angry. If the government cannot protect our mineral resources and safeguard
life in the various communities, what is its relevance?
Of
course, Ghanaians deserve tons of praise for being tolerant, peace-loving, and “hospitable”
to the extent as to accommodate foreigners and the deviants among them. But
they shouldn’t over-do things, remaining dormant or docile to be so undermined
on their own soil.
The
experiences of those of us living in others’ countries clearly confirm to us
that in a country where no law is enforced, mayhem results. It is not easy for
anybody to just enter those foreign lands and do anything anywhere, anyhow
while the law enforcement agents look on placidly or turn a blind eye to
happenings. It doesn’t happen. Why should it happen in Ghana?
And
to imagine that the Chinese illegal immigrant shot the Ghanaians with an AK 47
assault rifle!! How did he come by that weapon? And who authorized him to own
it? For what purpose if not to do what he has just done?
Indeed,
I will leave matters here; but I will do so on this note: The government has to
know that the result of the citizens’ willingness to obey the law is
protection. If it fails to do so, it shouldn’t turn round to blame the citizens
if they take the law into their own hands to deal with this Chinese menace.
The
people’s stock of patience and tolerance is not inelastic or inexhaustible. There
is a limit to everything. And as they continue being pushed to the wall—as is
really the case now with this Chinese menace—they will act in their own
interests and that of the country.
They
did so in communities endangered by the Fulani menace and are equally poised to
do so with these Chinese undesirables.
The
people know that if they fail to secure their natural resources, posterity will
not forgive them. Obviously, the ruin of a country begins from the homes of its
people. I think that we are gradually getting to that moment in our national
life.
Just a quick detour to the memory
lane. When the Apartheid authorities in South Africa had pushed the indigenous Africans
in that country (owners of the land and its resources) too far to the wall,
they defended their interest with weapons available to them—including stones,
bows and arrows to confront the agents of an oppressive regime armed to the
teeth with sophisticated weapons. That is what happens when a people resolve to
act resolutely in their own interests.
I don’t think the government
wants to look on for this kind of situation to happen in Ghana. Ours may not be
on the scale of the Apartheid system versus the indigenous South Africans but
it has its own potential of sparking off something very unpleasant in its conception
and destructive in its implementation and outcome.
The seeds of such horrendous
events have already been sown and being nurtured by the laxity of our
government and its agents all over the country who are so inefficient as not to
know what is brewing or how to stem the tide. Gradually, we will get to the tipping
point, and it is then that those being deceived by the comfort of their offices
will know how not to take the Ghanaian for granted. Are we cursed to put in
office those who are better at compounding problems than solving them? You, be
the judge!
I shall return…
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E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
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me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor to continue the conversation.
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