Political Scientist, Dr. John Osae-Kwapong, says President Akufo-Addo’s views on coup threats in Ghana sorely do not reflect the reality on the ground.

According to him, even though in recent times disenchanted voices on the sustainability of Ghana’s democracy have been rife, most of those disenchanted with the current democratic regime are in no way interested in changing Ghana’s democratic course through a non-democratic path.

He was speaking in relation to the President’s speech commemorating the 30^th Anniversary of the April 28, 1992 Referendum which saw the ban on political party activities lifted.

The President had urged Ghanaians to renew their trust in democracy, and bear in mind at all times, the oft-cited statement, that “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

“I say so because there are some, who for their own parochial and selfish interests, would want to see a return to the dark days of authoritarian rule, simply because, with no respect for the Ghanaian people, they are either unwilling to subject themselves or their vision to the open scrutiny of the Ghanaian people, or because they know they will be rejected by the Ghanaian people and, thus, seek a shortcut to office and power. Let us strengthen our resolve to resist such persons for our own common good,” he said. 

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Dr. Osae-Kwapong noted that the disenchantment being witnessed is not against democracy as a system of governance, but against the style of democracy being practiced in Ghana, which he says has not delivered the expected dividends to the Ghanaian population.

He said, “I think certain comments that have been made in the public spaces, and then if we look at what has been happening in the sub region around us and then if we look at global reports that talk about the decline in satisfaction with democracy, then I can see why there is that concern about being vigilante and staying on course.

“But do I really think that there’s a concerted effort by some to really destroy this journey that we’ve been on since 1992, I don’t think so, and I hope not. And I even hope that even if there are disenchanted voices I think those disenchanted voices are not necessarily about changing the course through a non-democratic path.

“I think the disenchanted voices are more about how do we make sure that this democracy that we’ve all ‘embraced’ delivers the things that it has promised to deliver to Ghanaians.”