Security expert, Prof. Kwesi Aning
A renowned security expert, Prof. Kwesi Aning, has warned recurrences of youth uprising may heighten if the government does not swiftly move to address their concerns in the country.
Aning, the Director of Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, blamed the unrest in Ejura that led to the killing of two protesters on the lack of political will to address the challenges confronting the youth.
But Prof. Kwesi Aning does not see the incident as an isolated one.
In an interview on Joy News PM Express, the academic stated that the unrest was a representation of a widespread sentiment of frustration harboured over a period.
“Ejura is only a symbolic representation of the frustrations across this country. Quite a number of our own leaders have spoken about youth frustration, unemployment, as a toxic mix. Ejura has demonstrated that we’ve now moved from the rhetoric of seeming to be concerned,” he observed.
He added, “When the State and its representatives over time, signal to people, that they don’t matter, it contributes to building frustrations.
“We need to say, ‘look, how do we improve our policing so that it doesn’t tip over these aspects of people’s frustrations,” he warned.
To him, the killing in the Ashanti Regional town could have been avoided if intelligence gathering by the security agencies had been effective.
A joint military and police team on Tuesday shot into a crowd that was protesting the death of a social media activist who was attacked by unknown assailants last week.
The social activist, Ibrahim Mohammed (Kaaka) died on Monday, June 28, 2021, after he was attacked by a mob when he was returning home on his motorbike on Sunday.
He’s alleged to have been killed because of his social activism, which some felt was making the government unpopular.
The police have launched investigations into the matter but the youth in the area have vowed not to relent until Kaaka’s family gets justice.