VANDALS vs Ghana Police: a year on I will never forget the events of 13th April, 2013. I can’t afford to ever forget the happenings of that day and the valuable life lessons I learnt. The occasion was the 55th Commonwealth Hall week, and as usual a mega float was to kick start the week celebration. It is worth noting, that for generations the fact that the MEGA FLOAT had stood out as the flagship event of the Vandal week celebration cannot be over emphasized. It is therefore not uncommon to see OLD Vandals trooping back into the palace of Father Bachus the morning of every MEGA FLOAT. Some even choose to report the night before. The float is usually patronized massively by students from our colonies (other small Halls, especially Mensah Sarbah Hall). Every year’s float is christened accordingly to add spice, class and some ‘touch’ to the procession. The most topical and usually controversial issue dominating National discourse usually becomes the code ‘name’ of the MEGA FLOAT. This is a fact known to every serious brain on UG campus. The choice of name, no matter how explosive or ridiculous it sounds to the ‘ordinary’ mind , MUST NOT be a surprise to any VANDAL, whether OLD or current at all ( I will explain why I added both OLD and CUURENT later). This year Vandals remembered that day by RELOADING the DUMSOR MEGA FLOAT, and added ‘KWASIA BI NTI’ accordingly to it. I want to take a retrospective journey back to events of that day and also ‘talk my mind on some of the issues’. In following tradition, the daily dose of ECG’s shameful blackouts was at a high point then, so the 13th April MEGA FLOAT was accordingly named ‘THE DUMSOR DUMSOR MEGA FLOAT’. Hmmm…!! The drama started with a news report on Joy FM’S Mid-day news, when they opted to visit the usual dose of unconfirmed speculative journalism on gentlemen of the RED fraternity. On hearing ‘Students of Commonwealth Hall embarking on a Demo?’ as part of their Headline stories, I quickly phoned their newsroom to impress on them to correct the anomaly. My call was connected and reconnected to about five different people, until I was told the story won’t be used as a main news story since in their words ‘it was a developing story’. After explaining everything, all I got from the supposed ‘news editor’ who chose not to give me her name was ‘am sorry, but we will send our reporter there, to verify so that we correct it during our subsequent news bulletins’. She told me their ‘sources in Legon won’t lie to them, so she is sorry she cannot take my explanations until their ‘sources’ tell them otherwise. I called the president of the JCR and gave him the newsroom line for him to further clarify. They read out the same ‘prepared scripts’ they gave me to him. Very very reckless and irresponsible journalism. I dashed back to campus to meet water cannons and armored vehicles, flanked by over 200 well armed police men. Their mission? They have been instructed to make sure the Vandals Demo doesn’t happen. Absolute rubbish! The same police, led by the regional commander days ahead had been served with the notice of the float, and they agreed and approved the route with the students. It is worth stating that the regional command had struck up an epistolary friendship with the JCR as part of the planning for the float. In the end the students who refused to mortgage their rights to some ‘BIG MAN’ somewhere who chose to convert his mobile phones into remote controls for Ghana Police, were beaten mercilessly. I don’t support any form of disregard of law and order. I admire and appreciate the work of every man in uniform who works to make this country a better and safe place (Of course my admiration excludes the unscrupulous and zombie minded officers who cannot tell politicians in the face to leave them alone to do their work), but I was very happy when upon reaching the Airport police station I saw a couple of police men treating their wounds as well. At least brave Vandals made them feel how those they lawlessly manhandle daily feel. Fast forward, Edmond Kombat as SRC prez guaranteed n bailed the illegally detained Vandals. Now my observation ( please stop reading if you don’t agree with me). Was sand in the head of the Joy FM ‘source’, or they were on their usual ‘let me put it out because it is newsworthy, and apologise later’ style of Ghanaian journalism? Did Ghana police waste resources to move at the speed of light to Legon based on the Joy FM report or they were truly ORDERED by some powers from above? Did this obviously confused BIG MAN order the regional command based on some serious security intelligence or he/she also relied on the Joy Fm report? We have a problem paaa oh! A year down the lane, not a simple apology has been heard from either the Ghana Police service or JOY FM. In all this however, my greatest disappointment is at the posture of the Old Vandals Association (OVA) during and after the attack by Ghana Police. Nobody expected the University management to release any statement to condemn the brutal and uncivilized attitude of the police, come on it is Vandals we talking about. They will pop champagne at Sarbah Logia n laugh! But OVA! OVA even though knew the police was wrong, have since that day been blaming junior members of the Hall for that attack. Their reason? “Well, u guys should change the way you do some of your things”. “You should have just called off the Float and stayed on campus, since the National security related issues were concerned”. My Volta ladies will say ‘LIKE SERIOUSLY???!!” It is pretty obvious that we have to change how the Hall does some of its things. Practices which have been religiously preserved for ages cannot be altered overnight? Isn’t it our duty as Old Vandals and seniors to train junior members of that great Hall on how to ‘operate’? This hypocritical attitude of blowing conditional ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ air when it suits us for face saving purposes is unsustainable in the long term. I can’t end without saluting the Chief Vandal and his able outfits who stood their ground placidly and made sure they didn’t return to the CITY without their sons. Before throwing my hands into hopeless despair, let me resort to prayers, since I still believe in it. I pray for the day a police commander will resign worthily and tell Ghanaians he did that because of the interference from some BIG MAN. I pray for the day, our media houses will quit the polarization and sensationalism and release stories they have confirmed only. I pray also for the day OVA gets conscious leadership; the kind of leadership who will appreciate that kingdoms built through years of conquests cannot be ‘crumbled’ suddenly. What we have now is just a group of shindig fanatics , certainly not old Vandals. A big shame to everyone who had a hand in this brazen act, especially Old Vandals like DCOP Freeman Tettey who threw away the TRUTH he learnt in the Vandal City and chose to do the Zombie dance to supposed big men. Let me drop my pen before I say things I will regret later. In this Tweaa era, who knows who is recording me. See me in chambers if you want to know the role Mary Nkrumah and the BIG MAN who came to pick me on campus played that day. Okyena nko! NII BOYE
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 03:48:24 +0000
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