Accra, March 06, GNA – Dr Donald Agumenu, former Special Aide to Former President Jerry John Rawlings, has called on the Government to take immediate steps to tackle economic challenges confronting the country to quench discussions on possible coup d’etat in the country.
Dr Agumenu, who is also a leadership expert, said the surest ways to stop people from such comments was for the Government to address “bread and butter” issues affecting the citizenry.
“It’s time for the Government machinery to consolidate its effort on key priority issues of the economy that can bring some emergency relief to avert further economic complications,” he said, adding that “Pushing hard to touch so many things at the same time with scarce resources will have serious socioeconomic implications and eventually affect livelihoods.”
Dr Agumenu said violent overthrow of legitimate government “will not and should not be the alternative to our challenges.”
That, he said, would only erode the constitutional and democratic investment of the nation in the wake of the economic challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the country should rather channel “collective energies into building a robust democratic architecture , uncompromising independent media climate, building capacity for electoral participation, curing voter apathy and electoral mistrust.”
“Every Ghanaian must have value for his or her vote . In effect, the kind of leadership we expect lies in the quality of vote we deliver,” Dr Agumenu said.
“Government’s role should be calming tensions while assuring citizens of steps to ensure an economic turnaround to their benefit,” he said.
Dr Agumenu called on the citizenry to use this year’s 65th independence anniversary celebrations to conduct a dispassionate introspection “on our gains as a country and collective aspirations.”
He said: “The day must reignite the Ghanaian spirit of resilience, courage, culture of inclusion and consultation. This resolve will take us a notch higher towards our dreams as a free and fair society with economic capabilities not only to feed ourselves but to buffer resources and reserves for the unborn generations yet to come.”
Dr Agumenu urged the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) to quickly deploy the necessary tool and take steps to address the constitutional setbacks on the continent.
He also called on the two regional blocs to implement programmes that would create sustainable economic climate to engender hope for millions of the teeming youth on the continent.
GNA