By Benjamin A. Commey
Accra, Sept 07, GNA – Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has called on Ghanaians to do everything possible to protect the country’s democracy and stability.
He, therefore, urged citizens to be courageous and to speak out against acts that had the potential to plunge the country into chaos.
“We have never had this length of democratic stability, so, it is something that we should value and not toy with,” he said.
Mr Nketia made the remarks on Wednesday during the swearing-in of the party’s new National Executive Committee (NEC) and Political Committee members in Accra.
The NEC has Professor Joshua Alabi, Dr Samuel Sarpong and Mr Abdul Rauf Khalid, as Vice Chairmen, Dr Edward Omane Boamah as Director of Elections and Mr Edudzi Tamakloe, as Director of Legal Affairs, among others.
The appointment and inauguration of the directors were part of the Party’s efforts to reclaim power in 2024.
Mr Nketia, who pledged the NDC’s commitment to democratic ideals, said recent developments in the West African subregion, which have seen the deposition of at least eight democratically elected governments by military juntas, must be reason for alarm for all.
As a result, he expressed concern about the country’s situation, accusing the current government of undermining state institutions such as the Bank of Ghana.
“We have never come this low, where. as a country, we are unable to service our debt let alone to pay, we have never come this low where corruption in the country has become like an American buffet, eat all you can for $10.
“We are at a point where our nation’s Central Bank, on paper, does not exist, we are at a stage where our security services have been politically compromised.
“The least said about our justice system the better and in all this, what helps to stabilise nations in crisis like this is the freedom to demonstrate because when people are frustrated and they get the opportunity to vent out their feelings, it’s a way of preventing an explosion, but that right too is being trampled upon,” he said.
Mr Nketia advised the Electoral Commission against adopting policies and programmes that could disenfranchise Ghanaians, particularly the youth, and undermine the country’s political stability.
“I am calling on civil society organisations, opinion leaders, faith-based organisations to bring pressure to bear on the government to make sure that the last right of the youth to cast their ballot and to determine their leaders are not taken away from them, because when you block peaceful avenues of change you are inviting violent avenues of change,” he stated.
He charged the newly sworn-in national executives to work tirelessly to ensure the Party’s victory in the December 2024 elections.
Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary of the NDC, also tasked new executives to put the Party’s interests ahead of their personal ambitions to ensure victory.
GNA