Adib Saani, a security analyst, has issued a warning that the economic hardships that many Ghanaians are presently facing may lead to an upsurge in crime in the country.
He said the country needs to address the economic situation as fuel prices go up astronomically and that has a serious implication for prices of food, other goods, and services.
“It’s important to deal with the economic situation. Just a few days ago, fuel prices skyrocketed, and they will likely have a significant impact on the prices of other goods and services starting today or possibly tomorrow. And that would only make the life of the ordinary Ghanaian worse. So, by the day, people are finding it difficult to live, and we should expect crime to go up sharply because of the economic situation,”
Despite the global factors that are affecting the economies of most countries, Adib Saani says Ghana’s situation can largely be attributed to inefficiency on the part of the economic managers.
“I know there’re some global issues, but I think largely, our situation in Ghana is as a result of incompetence. Even the CFA and Naira are doing better than the Cedi, so you can’t tell me that the Russia-Ukraine war is causing all these; that’s mediocrity and I think it important Ghanaians understand that,”
Mr Saani was speaking on a recent revelation by the Most Rev. Philip Naameh, Archbishop of Tamale and President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, that terrorist groups, in March 2022, recruited some 200 youth from Bole and Sawla in the Savannah Region.
“In the past, we’ve all been worried about some people coming from somewhere to attack us, so the fixation has been on the external threat, but it would interest you to know that the most vicious one of it is the internal factors, not just the external ones,”
“Do you know we have some people in Ghana who feel very maligned, they feel they’re not part of the system because they’ve been marginalized and feel their own were killed and no investigation was conducted and they’re not seen as Ghanaians? Unemployment is one of the biggest threats in Ghana, with most young people pushed into uncertainty,” he added.
According to him, one of the ways terrorists use to recruit beyond religion is an economic or financial benefit and they convince young people to join them because they would make more money.
“So, we need to pay attention to some of these internal factors that drive young people into joining these terrorist groups,” Mr Saani added.
Source: Osuman Kaapore Tahiru
