I have never alluded to the school of thought that “the world of abstract” can outclass “the world of realism” in providing a detailed narrative of an event. This article is a manifestation of clear events fused with realistic happenings, toppled with credible narrative observed through “the lenses of Frederick Brooks”, myself.
It was a Wednesday but not the ordinary Wednesday at the University Of Ghana. This particular Wednesday was characterized by an invasion of members from national security. One may have thought a civil war had been triggered within the university community.
One may have thought, there was a terrorist attack within the premier university. No! It was “just” an SRC election that had the police as the only recognized state security detail. I promised you not to go into the world of abstract, I still stand by that promise.
At the faculty of law, it was alleged that a member of the national security was a polling agent of one of the candidates. Even before speculations created more room for doubt, a colleague journalist, Godfred Damptey Larbi had interviewed the Airport Divisional Police Commander who said his outfit was not aware of the national security presence. This was strange. Every concerned student within the university community was equally worried.
These events are terribly shameful because Ghana is a signatory to the convention of the Kampala declaration. Article 14 of the Kampala Declaration on Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility provides that “The State shall not deploy any military, paramilitary, security, intelligence, or any like forces within the premises and grounds of institutions of education.”
If we do not exhaust conversations on this, we would be made to swallow a bitter pie tomorrow. We’ve seen and witnessed worrying excesses from events where some security operatives threw professionalism to the dogs and dived to grasp “ugly intents” that led to the loss of lives.
These events must not be repeated. For a student who suffers such an ugly encounter would be made to walk with that scar his or her entire life.
The university council must take a strong position on this matter. The integrity of this university is across borders. The university has gone through several phases before metamorphosing into this current state of unmatched academic excellence and prestige. We must protect and preserve the legacies and keep them as precious heritage that would benefit the future generations
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Author: Frederick Brooks | Journalist
