Former President Jerry John Rawlings says the murder of Captain Maxwell Mahama should be a wake up call for state institutions involved in dealing with crime to live up to their duties and responsibilities in the fight against the surge of lawlessness in the country.
He was speaking in the Upper west region ahead of activities to climax the commemoration of the 38th Anniversary of the June 4 Revolution that falls today.
Addressing a large crowd at the palace of the Paramount Chief of the Wale Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Pelpuo IV, the former President described the incident as cruel and uncivilized and called on the Police to speed up investigations in order to bring perpetrators to book.
“The lost of that Captain has sent a shockwave throughout the country. And I sincerely hope that it will serve as a wake up call to all of us; to government, the law enforcement agencies, the courts to wake up to our duties and our responsibilities in order to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.This is a very uncivilized behaviour,some ways found to contain this irresponsibility, this cruelty the better it’ll be for all of us.
While expressing confidence in the country’s legal system, the ex-military leader blamed the government for failing to crack the whip on offenders of the law.
“Had we reacted appropriately as a government, there is no doubt in my mind this kind of brutal, cruel behaviour will not have gone on for this long. This did not start today, it started quite a few years ago. I think we all know, where we would be heading this time around if we do not crack the whip.
Former President JJ Rawlings is in the Upper West region to climax the 38th Anniversary of June 4th. He was met with a large crowd that filled up the streets of Wa to catch a glimpse of the former military ruler.