Sam George
A cross section of Ghanaians have criticised the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) for threatening to make the country ungovernable following the dismissal of Charlotte Osei as the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) as well as her two deputies.
The leadership of the NDC had asked Ghanaians to take to the streets to protest the decision of President Akufo-Addo, who had acted on the recommendation of a committee set up by the Chief Justice pursuant to Article 146.
At a midnight press conference organised at the headquarters of the party at Adabraka in Accra, the NDC described the dismissal as wrong and charged Ghanaians to take to the streets to register their displeasure against the President’s decision which was within the remit of the 1992 Constitution.
However, the party was compelled to call off the demonstration following the demise of former Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, who passed away last Friday.
As if that was not enough, the National Youth Organiser of the party, Siidi Abubakar, in an interview with Accra-based Rainbow Radio threatened that the party was ready to embark on a civil disobedience over the removal of the EC boss.
He said: “We are not under oppressors’ rule; we are under democracy and Nana Addo cannot cow us down. We are going to march; we are going to have a lot of protests and we are going to make sure he rescinds this decision otherwise the country is going to be ungovernable for him and for all of us”.
But the comment has not gone down well with fair-minded Ghanaians who think the comments are reckless and has the propensity to cause chaos.
Jungle Tactics
Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, describe the decision by the NDC to hit the street as descending into the state of the jungle where it is the survival of the fittest.
Speaking on news analysis programme News File on Joy FM, although she did not mention the name of the party, she questioned the rationale behind hitting the streets just because a decision did not go in their favour.
She therefore called on the police to deal with any group or individual who flouts the law, threatening the peace and security of the country.
Sorry Sam George
The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George, incurred the wrath of some Ghanaians when he invited them to rise up against the removal of the EC bosses.
The NDC MP took to his Facebook wall to invite Ghanaians to hit the streets over the dismissal, accusing the President of being a threat to democracy.
However, the post attracted some bashings from his ‘friends’ who questioned his reasoning for calling on the citizens to rise against the President for acting according to the law.
Some even went to the extent of urging him to involve his land guards to fight for him.
Sebastian Kotokoraba Ayivor replied the comment saying “your existence in Parliament is a threat to our future; I can’t imagine the kind of laws that will be passed under your tenure”.
“The President swore to uphold the 1992 Constitution. He was constitutionally bound to act in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee. The president has done no wrong”, Kofi Owusu Akoto schooled the MP.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak