The University of Ghana Branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UG-UTAG) has condemned the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah, for accusing some individuals in academia, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the media of allegedly using their platforms to propagate false narratives in support of coups and military rule.
UG-UTAG in a statement noted that the accusations have the tendency to gag the expression of dissenting opinion which it said is unhealthy for Ghana’s democracy.
“We take a serious exception to the Minister’s statement and condemn it in no uncertain terms, as it has the tendency to gag the expression of dissenting opinion on what government does with the fiduciary trust reposed in it, by the people. It also has the potency to prevent these individuals from exercising their fundamental rights to free speech.”
Professor Ransford Gyampo, president of UG-UTAG, reiterated his condemnation of the Minister’s remark during an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM and emphasized that people in academia will continue to highlight conditions that prompt the military to want to strike.
“I am yet to hear of an academic who is brazenly asking for coups. No academic worth his or her salt will come out to say that he or she supports coups and nobody in our fold supports coups but we will always highlight some of the things that happen in our body politics that create the kind of situation for the military to want to strike and we will have to bring it out so that if the government is serious, it will address those variables so that we won’t get to a situation where the military will want to strike.”
The statement further urged the government and people in political office to practice good governance and a host of other people-centred policies to make coups unattractive for the military.
“The antidote to coups and military interventions in politics are good governance, fight against corruption, proper management of the economy and the implementation of proactive pro-poor policies, that can help bridge the gap between the poor and the rich, as well as create a vibrant Middle Class in society.”
