Corruption in governance and youth unemployment and economic hardships have become the chorus on the lips of some Ghanaians hoping to use it to cause disaffection for the government in order to create the enabling environment for NDC’s regime change agenda.
All manner of people including so-called celebrities screaming “hoarse” about developments in the country but quick to say they are apolitical, to throw dust into the eyes of the people. While the organisers claim that their protest has nothing to do with partisan politics, they quickly align with known opponents of the NPP government, some of whom visited them to solidarise with the protestors.
And since last Thursday, the self-styled commentators, including university dons would not give us peace by jumping onto the bandwagon to justify the agitations of the demonstrators who have the moral temerity to block the road, thereby denying the people the right to use the road and even seek medical treatment at the 37 Military Hospital.
Ironically, some of these members of academia, who do not hide their public rejection of developments in the country, have been caught in serious scandals like sex for grades. Those who have not yet been exposed are walking chest out under the “principles” of the eleventh commandment which is “thou shall not be caught.”
All over the globe, economies have their back to the wall, but the solution lies in collective action instead of the silos mentality that the demonstrators exhibited last weekend by calling the duty bearers corrupt when among them are “power thieves.”
The weekend’s demonstrators can be likened to the story of the pot calling the kettle black. Be that as it may, our advice to the demonstrators is for them to alter their lawless posture and be part of the national action to increase the national cake to be shared to all corners of the country.
We have no authority to ask anybody how to exercise his or her rights as guaranteed by the Fourth Republican Constitution. But one thing we are sure of as a good corporate citizen is to draw attention to actions that infringe on the rights of others like the obstruction caused to other road users by the demonstrators at the 37 Military Hospital last week.
The demonstrators who included those who call themselves “enlightened” people took the law into their hands while trying to call out President Akufo-Addo to fix the hardships of the people, while the police looked on helplessly. For the police to surrender to this lawless for two days beat our imagination and whether Ghanaians should henceforth go to sleep with one eye open.
The constitution guarantees the right to assembly but our laws also empower the police to restrict the right to peaceful assembly, but not to prohibit it. We think the Police Administration under the direction of IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare has some explanation to give.
Ghanaians who do not have short memories recall what the police did to the “Let My Vote Count” demonstrators in 2015 during which some of them lost limbs or lives.
John Mahama then as President shedding some crocodile tears asked the police to investigate the brutalities, but till today Ghanaians are yet to be told about the report. The directive by Mr. Mahama was just a charade to divert attention from the public condemnation of the then government’s high-handedness in dealing with the demonstrators.
It is much ado about nothing. It is a media hype by especially a few media houses like TV3 that can devote 30 minutes airtime to them and Joy News, Metro and UTV. They claim Akufo-Addo has turned the country into a police state, and yet make wild unsubstantiated allegations against people in the presence of the police without the media interrogating their claims.
Even at the premises of the police regional headquarters, they continued making those claims whereas the police asked them to respect the laws.