I speak as the Acting Rector of GIMPA which recently commissioned a Criminal Justice Centre, with the Chief Justice-designate, Special Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and a former Justice of that court all present.

I speak as a lawyer whose life calling is the pursuit of justice. I speak as a public servant who has once occupied the office of Director of Legal Services and Investigations at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice.

I speak as an Old Saint who has lost one of his own. I speak as a native of the Central Region whose fellow natives committed this dastardly act in the Region. I speak as a Citizen and not a spectator. I speak with pain and shame, but, with resolve. I speak thus:

• Law and order are the bedrock of civilization. Public protection, due process and effective justice are the only bases for establishing Government.
• Impunity, indifference, incompetence and corruption have been creeping on us as a country and have resulted in ineffective State institutions.
• Government must examine and strengthen itself to carry out its mandate with effectiveness and dispatch and to curb public rampage, passion, mob justice, vigilantism and impunity. 
• State investigative authorities including especially, but not limited to the police are to be well-resourced and professional. They should make no demands on citizens for money, transport or otherwise to work and they should be subject to performance indicators. Evidence should always be diligently gathered to meet all ingredients of an offence.
• Prosecution authorities should prosecute based on law and evidence only. Political interference should be resisted, reported and sanctioned. And prosecution must proceed with dispatch.
• Judges and magistrates should try cases with dispatch, and without fear or favour. They - and not politicians, business executives, corrupt litigants, public opinion, - yes, judges and magistrates control their courts; and cases brought to courts for trial require expeditious, fair and sound consideration  such that decisions are based on law and evidence only, and that reasons for judgements can be appreciated by the public.

I pray that Old Saint Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama’s death would not be in vain but that it will be a trigger to (1) restore efficiency and integrity in our public service, (2) eliminate mob justice, vigilantism and impunity amongst the populace, and (3) root out illegal mining in our beloved country. 

May God be with Ghana.