The Deputy International Relations Officer of the NDC, Fred Agbenyo, has stated that Ghanaians have grown very timid, and that the citizens of the country cannot rise up to be counted.
He stated that the events that happened in 1995 were far better than what is happening now but the only difference is the change in the system of government.
“What we are experiencing today is over a thousand more times of what happened in 1995. It’s understandable that we just returned to democracy and so… during the time of the PNDC, people didn’t have the opportunity to express themselves the way they would have wished to express themselves.”
Fred Agbenyo
He said that the current hardships were tougher, and he is surprised that Ghanaians have not taken over the streets of Accra in their numbers to call the attention of the President and the international community.
According to him, all sixteen regional capitals of the country should be filled with people in red apparel ready to protest against the current hardships the country is facing, with no form of violence or abuse.
“By now, the sixteen regional capitals should be flooded by people all in red, we’re not beating anybody, we’re not destroying anybody but just to protest to the world that we cannot continue in this hardship.”
Fred Agbenyo
On the New Day Show, he spoke about the continuous increase in the prices of food commodities and transportation fares, as well as the inability of railway station workers to purchase fuel for their operations. Mr. Fred urged Ghanaians to rise up and tell the President that he is “sleeping on the job”, and that this is not what the citizens of Ghana bargained for.
Governments across the world are not popular
On his part, Mr. Fuseini Issah, Former MP of the Okaikwei North Constituency, said that governments across the world are not favored or admired by the masses, just like it is with the Ghanaian government.
He stated that the people have a lot of avenues to express how they feel about government’s policies and performance and that people have the freedom to use the media to express their feelings, instead of booing at the President.
Government is run by a team and not one man, and the policies go through processes, he said, adding that one person cannot be blamed for the economic hardships because the finance minister does not do it all by himself.
According to him, Ghanaians have elected the President for four more years to serve them, giving him the privilege to make decisions that affect their daily lives, and that is why the executive power was entrusted into his hands.
Mr. Fuseini indicated that the booing nature of the citizens is “not our culture”.
“It is not something I will support even if it’s done to my opponent. Like I said, I saw a video of Mutanka and I felt really bad because of who I know he is and what he represents to his party. I felt really bad, it’s not something that I’ll encourage.”
Fuseini Issah
Speaking on the same show, he explained that there are a lot of avenues for citizens to show dissent on issues rather than resulting to the attitude of insulting. He said that he does not insult people on the media and does not expect anyone to do same to him.
“We have decided to do public service, we have decided to be the eye of the public and I think that we have to do this at a certain level and booing and insults and all of this is not something that I encourage.”
Fuseini Issah
The former MP stated that the chiefs are the custodians of “our culture”, and they should not encourage such behaviors but rather see to it that such behaviors are condemned, especially in these times.
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