Weed smoking in church and issues arising

After watching a video on Facebook where a pastor encouraged a congregant to smoke what is supposed to be weed (marijuana), I found the action taken by the Greater Accra Regional Police Command welcoming.

I think it is the right action. It was belated though but I guess as the popular saying goes, it is better late than never. However, a close viewing of the said video reveals a worrying trend that I believe the Ghana Police Service Command needs to put a stop to.

In the video, a police officer is seen standing right behind Rev. Obofour and yet he takes no action to stop the commission of illegality that was happening right under his nose.

Interestingly, this is not the first time I have seen Rev Obofour surrounded by police officers in either his church or when he illegally makes a convoy of vehicles when he is attending a social function.

I have seen other personalities such as Rev. Obinim, Shatta Wale, Sarkodie, and A-Plus have police escorts at events that do not warrant that kind of service from the police.

I, therefore, wonder what the Police Administration’s policy on police escorts are and what these officers are supposed to do when the public personalities they are protecting are engaged in illegal acts.

If we do not put a stop to the use of the police force as a tool for the furtherance of building personality cults around popular individuals, we risk portraying the Ghana Police service as the private security company of rich and popular people in Ghana.

As such, I call on the IGP to sanction the police officer who witnessed the weed-smoking incident and to regulate the assignment of police officers to offer protective services to public officials and popular personalities.