IS IT MOB JUSTICE OR INJUSTICE

REPORTS of increasing incidents of mob justice throughout the country are a threat to the country’s criminal justice system.
It is dangerous for mobs to dispense instant justice (or perhaps injustice) to people alleged to have committed certain offences.
The trend is alarming, in view of the fact that one of the cardinal principles of the criminal justice system is that all suspects are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of jurisdiction. This gives accused persons the opportunity to confront their accusers in open court.
Therefore, the least expected of all law-abiding citizens, even in the wake of the rising crime rate, is for them to exercise restraint and report all suspected criminals to the police to be prosecuted.
Indeed, it is dangerous and equally criminal on our part to lynch those we suspect to have committed some offences against us.
We pride ourselves as a country committed to the rule of law and so it is essential, under this cardinal governance principle, to provide all persons suspected to have committed crimes with fair hearings and an opportunity to defend themselves.
This elaborate provision has been made in our statutes to ensure that the due process is followed before pronouncing anybody guilty so that people do not lose their freedom just on account of their colour, creed, status in society or hearsay evidence.
Nobody is above the laws of the land and so the increasing incidents of mob justice must either be the result of our lack of faith in the judicial system or that some of our contemporaries have regrettably become lawless and undisciplined.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, calls on all well-meaning Ghanaians to rise up against this canker, since it has the tendency of exposing innocent people to so-called mob justice.
The danger, too, is that when this trend becomes very pervasive, the mere shout of ‘dzulor’, ‘thief’ or ‘robber’ could spell one’s doom even if one is just a victim of circumstances.
We recall the genitalia disappearance scare that came up some time ago in this country when just a shout that ‘my thing is missing’ made many innocent citizens to lose their lives.
The DAILY GRAPHIC will continue to drum home to all Ghanaians to have confidence in our institutions, even if we are not satisfied with their performances.
As human institutions, they are not immune to the general shortcomings in our society. We can only strengthen them when we support and encourage them and play our part as law-abiding citizens.
Having said this, it is equally important for all institutions entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing the law to demonstrate integrity in the discharge of their duties in order to earn the respect and confidence of members of the public.
The situation where it takes the police hours on end to respond to distress calls and the tendency on the part of some policemen to disclose the names of informants, although the Police Administration has boldly displayed the inscription “Every caller is an ally” at all police stations, are a disincentive to promoting any functional public/police collaboration to fight crime.
Also the long adjournments and other forms of frustration such as the technical jargons make our law courts alien and intimidating to litigants and those who seek justice have come to the realisation, rather unfortunately, that the best way to seek justice is through the self-help attitude.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that mob justice (or mob injustice) can be halted if we encourage our people to develop confidence in the justice system and seek redress through the laid down channels.