General News of Tuesday, 18 January 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-01-18Akufo-Addo government waging vendetta against political opponents – Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Felix Kwakye Ofosu is former deputy minister of Communication
NDC MPs before the court over various alleged crimes
Military officers attached to Bagbin’s office withdrawn
Parliament reconvenes January 25, 2022
A former Deputy Minister of Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has raised concerns on the number of National Democratic Congress Members of Parliament being hauled before the law courts and against persons believed to be political opponents of the incumbent
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His comments come on the back of the recent withdrawal of military officers attached to the office of the Speaker, Alban Bagbin.
According to him, he believes the latest move by the government through the Ghana Armed Forces is an attempt to witch hunt members of the opposition party, NDC as a result of the back and forth that has greeted the 2022 budget statement on the floor of Parliament.
“The Akufo-Addo government can be particularly crude in its waging of vendettas against political opponents, real or perceived. It has been up to all manner of devious plots to silence vocal critics especially NDC MPs and anyone they perceive to have had a role in the tumultuous scenes that characterized the rejection of the 2022 budget and the stalemate over the obnoxious E-Levy. Since 26th November 2021, when the unpopular budget was thrown out, about half a dozen NDC MPs have been hauled before all manner of investigative bodies on frivolous and frankly nonsensical charges,” he wrote on his Facebook timeline.
“These charges have nothing to do with any belief by Akufo-Addo in the rule of law or the fight against corruption because everyone knows he is the foremost enabler of corruption through his active participation in it and the shielding of criminality under his watch to the extent that it is perpetrated by his party folks. Now they have turned attention to the Speaker on the non-issue of Military guards,” he added.
In a related development, the Minority have raised red flags about the withdrawal of the military men stating that it was an attempt by the government to put the Speaker in harm’s way.
They also believe it is an attempt to gag the speaker and compel him to do the bidding of the government.
On the contrary, the Majority group has refuted assertions that the move is politically motivated.
They emphasize that Speaker, Alban Bagbin, is a beneficiary from the “largest number of security personnel... that none of the previous Speakers had.”