Explain your policies to change people’s minds from coup – Akufo-Addo gov’t told

A security analyst has advised the current government and successive ones to explain their policies to the people in order for them to relate and that, he believes, will deter them from thinking of staging a coup d’état.

Mr. Paul Boateng said the beating of coup drums should be a wake-up call to the government and every Ghanaian.

He was responding to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s address at the 65th Independence Day celebration in Cape Coast, calling for the protection of the peace and stability of the country at all times.

“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 alternatives to the current government or their impatience to wield executive authority are the factors driving their appetite for the short cut of military intervention.

“Whatever be the case, they seem ready to jeopardize the hard-won reputation of our country a 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”.

But Mr. Boateng told 3FM’s Sunrise host Alfred Ocansey that “it is a challenge for the entire government and Ghanaians that some people will like to use illegal means of changing the government and it is not good”.

“But it’s up to the government to explain its policies to us and that may change the minds of Ghanaians. I strongly believe that they [government] have picked their intelligence because some appointees, immediately they acquire these positions they start buying cars and building houses. However, before these appointments, they did not have such monies.”

The security analyst noted that “some of them don’t even think of how they spend because the monies are not coming from them and these are all factors”.

“Everybody is complaining about the economy so it is up to the government to change. The signs are there. Listen to the comments of the people. They should reduce their spending and explain their policies to the people of Ghana.”