Government must stop detaining Ghanaians who make comments regarding a possible coup, according to Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, a member of the NDC legal team.
Members of the current government, including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, allegedly predicted political upheavals while in opposition but were never imprisoned, according to him.
The lawyer claimed in an interview with GhanaWeb’s Neat FM that the government’s detaining people for making comments is a breach of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
“People who perceived the imminence of coups d’états, insurgencies, and upheavals in the past should be tolerant of such discussions today.” I bring this up because, prior to the 2016 elections, then-candidate Akufo-Addo traveled to Germany to speak with the Ghanaian population there and warned them that the country’s job crisis could usher in the Arab Spring.
“In an interview on Peace FM on December 2, 2015, a few days before the election, Akufo-Addo made the same statements about the Arab spring unfolding in Ghana… Everyone is aware that the Arab Spring resulted in the unjustified use of force.
You can also check on May 4, 2013 on the Daily Guide, Coup de tat eminent in Ghana – Captain Budu Koomson. At that time, Captain Budu Koomson was the head of security for the NPP. According to him, as a former military officer, his assessment shows that a military coup was imminent when John Mahama was the president.
“In fact, he even went as far as saying that we should not delude ourselves into thinking that Ghana has gone past coups and that we should not think so; that it can happen,” Edudzi added.
He said nobody, at that time, said [to] the BNI, the National Security go and arrest anyone or “invite Akufo-Addo to come and explain what he meant by Arab Spring can happen in Ghana because of unemployment, nobody did!”
Some Ghanaians have been recently arrested for comments they made about coups. Members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) are calling for the arrest of the Dean of the University of Ghana Law School, Prof Raymond Atuguba, for saying that Ghana’s current economic situation could serve as a basis for a military overtake.
