Former president John Dramani Mahama has pleaded with Ghanaians to obey the law and not consider supporting any potential coup d’état in the country, which is a clever move to counter the remarks made by the National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, that Ghana is on a time bomb and ripe for coup d’état after receiving a public beating.
In a recent interview with Joy News, the NDC Chairman said:“Ghana is more than ripe for a coup d’état but the only thing that is saving us is the tolerance of Ghanaians. If you look at our history, you will see that the things that have led to previous coup d’états in this country were even less than what is happening now. But the only thing that is saving us is the tolerance and our collective history’’.
Mr. Nketiah asserts that although it is past due for someone to seize control and restore autocratic rule, Ghana’s exceptional tolerance among its people is what is preventing total anarchy.
He further explained that “There may be situations that you don’t like and you may be tempted to think that nowhere can be worse than where we are now, so let us disrupt. You’ll disrupt, you will have some relief, but the relief will be short-lived and the relief can lead you into another problem where the new leaders may equally be intransigent. So it will mean that you’ve not solved the problem and that knowledge by Ghanaians is what we’re hanging on to now’’.
He asserted that he thought the populace had considered the nation’s past, which had been damaged by numerous coups that had been precipitated by events less serious than the current incidents.
Speaking in Kumasi at the 3rd National Conference of Imams and Regional Imams of Ghana, Mr. Mahama emphasized that, despite the country’s current economic challenges, organizing a coup should not even be a last resort.
“We should know that no matter the hardship there will be the opportunity for an election for different people to be elected. It is only left with a year for us to say goodbye to some people and welcome others who can fix the economy. So let’s continue respecting the Constitution. We should never think of coups and everything will be fine,” Mahama noted.
