President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed his government readiness to resist any attempt to change constitutional elected-government through coup d’etat.
According to him, he will protect the peace and stability of the country at all times.
Speaking at the 65th Independence celebration in Cape Coast in the Central Region on Sunday March 6, 2022, themed Working together, Bouncing Back Better, he said “Let us guard jealously the peace and stability we are enjoying. There are some restless spirits amongst us who, seeking to exploit the current difficulties confronting the nation, claim to have lost confidence in our democratic system.
“Either the absence of faith in the prospect of democratic alternative to the current government or their impatience to wield executive authority are the factors driving their appetite for the short cut of military intervention.
“Whatever be the case, they seem ready to jeopardise the hard won reputation of our country as beacon of democracy and stability in Africa and indeed, in the world, in order to gratify their personal ambition, ambitions which show little or no respect for the capacity of the Ghanaian people to change when necessary their government peacefully through the ballot box, something we have done on three separate occasions in the 29 year life of the fourth republic.
“The great majority of us who are committed to democratic values and institutions will continue to resist the claims of these adventurers and deploy all legitimate means in our democracy to maintain our free open system of governance which has respect for human rights, the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability.”
The President remarks come after the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana , Professor Raymond Atuguba who was Executive Secretary to former President John Dramani Mahama, said that Ghana is currently ripe for coup due to the economic situation.
Prof Atuguba said at a forum organised by Solidare Ghana in Accra that “We do not want coup in this country but if we do not act quickly we may have one in our hands. There is one thing to do now, prevent coup in Ghana since the climate and the environment, national and immediate international, are conducive for one. We must compel the government to acknowledge the current economic mess.
“Ghana’s economic problems started before Covid-19. On balance, Covid-19 was a good thing for Africa and Ghana.” he said at a forum held by Solidare Ghana, a pro opposition group.
The academic don received some backlash from a section of the Ghanaian public.
Responding to the law Professor, last Wednesday March 2, 2022, Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (KT) Hammond took a swipe at Professor Atuguba for his coup prediction in Ghana.
KT Hammond wondered why all the time some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who he described as irresponsible call for the Military intervention in the administration of the country when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is governing.
He asked that “Why is it that in the course of NPP administration every opportunity that the NDC get, not all of them to be fair, but the irresponsible ones are calling for intervention of the military?
“What is it about the Military?
K.T Hammond stressed that “Let me tell Professor Atuguba that he doesn’t have the liberty to take leave of his brain, he does not have the liberty to take even half of his brain.
“He owes it to his students and he owes it to the constitution that everybody including him has no reason to say the kind of things he has said. He is a Professor and of no other thing but of law, he understands the constitution.
“This is the constitution that has made it very clear, anybody who attempts to subvert it commits the offence that he knows, he goes to make a statement like this.”
He added “The Military knows what they are up to, they are a professional institution, their responsibility is to guide the territorial integrity of this country, period, they know it, they are not interested in dabbling in politics. The group before them had dabbled in politics and we are all witnesses to these happenings. They are not interested, the officers are professionals, the rank and file, they are professionals they know their duties. It not the likes of Atuguba to invite them to hold the country to ransom.
“Clearly, he is NDC sympathizer and indeed, I do know that at a point in time he worked with the office of the president , he is an NDC sympathizer but no problem with that but the constitution allows for the people of Ghana to speak at periodic times.
“The last one was 2020, we had the election, four more years, we have spent almost one and a half years thereafter, we will go for election.
“If the people do not like the NPP administration because they feel that they have messed up it is for the people of the country to pass their judgement, it is not for the person who thinks he knows the law and who thinks he has studied the law to go about and brandishing foolishness like that.
“I will be surprised if they have not already invited him. Clear foolishness.”
By Vincent Kubi