DEAL WITH THE MISFITS (MAY 18, 2010)

Many well-meaning personalities in our society continue to express dismay at the spate of indiscipline among security personnel in the country.
The latest to do so is a retired Commandant of the Ghana Military Academy, Major-General Henry Kwami Anyidoho, who has bemoaned the involvement of some security personnel in criminal activities and advocated a review of the recruitment and training methods of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
Major-General Anyidoho cited reports of uniformed men misconducting themselves in instances involving robbery and other vices and noted that “it is lamentable when young officers who are expected to be imbued with the qualities of a professional soldier go to the extent of misconducting themselves”.
Yesterday, the Daily Graphic carried a story in which the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, had ordered the interdiction of three members of the Police Highway Patrol Unit in Accra for allegedly stealing some money belonging to a victim of a motor accident on the Accra-Tema Motorway while they were on official duty.
We have had to return to this subject of indiscipline among security personnel because of the gravity of the situation and the danger it portends for society if not checked immediately.
Members of the public are gradually losing confidence in our security personnel, despite the fact that the security agencies can boast some of the best trained personnel on the African continent and beyond.
Personnel of the GAF, the Police Service and other agencies have excelled in operations in the Middle East, Rwanda, Liberia and Cambodia.
However, the activities of certain bad lots within the security agencies are denting the image and integrity of these institutions whose personnel, we all expect, must discharge their duties effectively to protect lives and property in the country.
The concern being expressed over indiscipline in the security agencies does not mean that the entire security apparatus in the country has broken down. Indeed, Ghana can still boast many disciplined men and women in uniform who are discharging their duties without blemish and are doing their best to uphold the integrity of their institutions.
The Daily Graphic salutes all hardworking officers and men of the security agencies and encourages them to continue to discharge their duties more diligently to serve as role models to their colleagues and the entire society.
It is for this reason that we endorse the suggestion by Major-General Anyidoho for a review of the courses offered by the security training institutions to be truly reflective of and in harmony with the aspirations of the officers and make them better fit for their roles as leaders of society.
It will also be worthwhile for the security agencies to take a second look at the selection of recruits into security training institutions to ensure that a new cadre of security personnel imbued with a high sense of integrity, discipline, nationalism and patriotism is recruited for law enforcement in the country.
The Daily Graphic also urges the leadership of the security agencies to pay attention to continuing education for their personnel, where the focus will be on leadership skills, integrity awareness, nationalism and patriotism.
We commend the efforts of the administration of the security agencies for taking swift action against deviant security officers. But it appears the actions so far have not been deterrent enough to stop unpatriotic security officers from dragging the name of their institutions into the mud.
Perhaps the time has come for the security agencies to review the disciplinary mechanisms and monitoring systems to keep an eagle eye on the activities of the personnel to bring them in line with security discipline, unless the action is swift to break the back of the incorrigible few in the security apparatus to ensure law and order.