Persons who are dissatisfied with the performance of the government should wait and go through elections to win political power and take over the administration of the country rather than entertaining the idea of resorting to coup d’état, a Ghanaian soldier who fought in the World War II, Ex-Lance Corporal Wisdom Edmund Kudowor, has said.
In his view, military takeover of the governance of the country is not needed because it will only ruin the nation.
Ex-Lance Corporal Kudowor indicated that all persons who lived under military regimes in the past will not want to go through that experience again in the country.
“Those of us who have experienced it, living under military regimes, I don’t think we want to experience such sort of thing. We are sending the country back, years, and if we are not careful that will cause the ruin of the country all together. We can do better than that, we can do better than just getting the army to take over, I don’t think we need that now.
“We have ways of dealing with that, if you think the government is not doing well go and ‘fight’ in elections, if you win you take over and do what you think was missing with the existing government,” he told Accra-based Asaase Radio on Sunday March 13.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has served notice to protect the peace and stability of the country at all times.
Speaking at the 65th Independence day celebration in Cape Coast on Sunday March 6, 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 for 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.”
His comments came 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 a fertile place for coup due to the bad economic situation.
Prof Atuguba asked the government to acknowledge the economic mess and try to deal with it.
“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, they mostly, and previous governments, to a larger extent.
“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.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana