The decision by President Mills to submit himself to a search by officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) at the Kotoka International Airport last Tuesday before he emplaned to London raises a number of issues which deserve comment.

In submitting himself to the search, President Mills is also reported to have directed that the First Lady and all members of his delegation also undergo the said search, which order was carried out.

President Mills, we can vouch, has nothing to do with drugs but we think that he just played to the gallery; especially when he is quoted as having told NACOB staff to do their work without fear or favour.

It is this act of playing to the gallery to score political points when we all know that it was just 'eye service' as they say in the military about ineffectual occurrences or orders that interests us.

If any drug had been found on President Mills, would it have been reported? Further, all who are conversant with the way VVIPs travel know that hours before they do so, their main luggage is checked in. for stowing. In this instance, we were not told whether President Mills' luggage, if any, that had earlier been checked in had also been searched for drugs.

If anything at all, it is President Mills' body and his hand luggage that were searched, unless he gave earlier instructions for his luggage which was to be stowed earlier to be searched.

President Mills is Commander-in-Chief of all the security agencies in Ghana, of which NACOB is an adjunct such that even if he had anything foul on his person, what could they have done? Arrest him? Certainly not! And that is the reason why no attempt should be made to put any spin on the symbolic search President Mills subjected himself to, for it was nothing and of no effect whatsoever to the fight against drug smuggling; especially when President Mills is known as a law abiding citizen who would not even be tempted to smuggle a pin out of Ghana, if smuggling a pin were to be made an offence.

Yet another observation from the said populist search that took place at the Kotoka International Airport is that when President Mills arrived in London, we were not told whether he submitted himself to another such search by Her Royal Majesty's Customs officials. If we may ask, since when did the authorities at Heathrow Airport and other Airports in the UK rely solely on the fact that because NACOB officials here searched a person travelling from Ghana, they would not subject that person to another search on arrival in the UK?

We can bet that President Mills was not searched upon arrival in the UK. If on the other hand, he was searched in the UK, the Ghanaian populace need to know.

Whilst we appreciate that President Mills may have subjected himself to the search as a way of encouraging NACOB personnel and others to be emboldened in executing their duties; the spin that is being put on it belies what was intended.

It is not for nothing that in the international community, heads of state and others with diplomatic passports are not subjected to such searches and even arrest. The reality is that in diplomatic circles, diplomats of one country (sending state) in another country (receiving state) are not subject to the jurisdiction and or control of the courts and other adjudicating bodies of the receiving state. The only exceptions are when the diplomat himself/herself or the sending state revokes the diplomatic immunity of such a diplomat before he/she can be tried or searched. It is in this vein that the last NDC administration, when Frank Benneh, a Ghanaian diplomat was fingered in Switzerland for drug related offences, chose the option of not revoking his diplomatic immunity and instead brought him down to Ghana for a trial.

The office of President of Ghana comes with a certain standard and expectation and whoever occupies it ought to recognise this simple fact and be guided accordingly. The days when our leaders came out in full populist gear and pulled wool over the eyes of the people are long gone. We recall fufu pounding, gutter desilting in Cape Coast and Nima, queuing to vote during the 1979 elections and several other gimmicks which were employed by our self-appointed saviour of the past; whose disciple President Mills is and state that at the end of it all, it was made evidently clear in animal farm style that four legs are better than two.

After all, President Mills enjoys other perks of office such as free telephone usage, free fuel, water, free clothing among others which perks he can easily do away with and pay for from his own pocket; especially at a time that government, led by him is seeking to cut down cost.

If President Mills does not like the privileges that come with being President and would want to play to the gallery with it, it is his choice but he must give further expression to it by joining the citizenry in traffic for instance.

Being President is not an easy task and we believe that those whom we vote into that high office ought to do things that uphold the dignity of that office. Submitting a presidential body to a search is offensive.

Ghanaians, no doubt, would be very angry if any report filters through that whilst our President was away on a visit to any part of the world, he was frisked. Our President is an embodiment of our nationhood and any attempt to search him is a slap in the face of Ghanaians; whether it is solicited or imposed. This, President Mills knows perfectly well and should not feign ignorance.

President Mills should ensure that NACOB is given th necessary tools such as scanners and other logistics as well as improved remuneration for its staff such that personnel of that agency would be motivated to deliver on their mandate as expected of them.

As for body searches at Kotoka, it is ineffectual and pleasing only to the propagandists and spin masters.


Credit: The Ghanaian Observer