Senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the University of Ghana, Dr Kwame Asah-Asante says the government must take the #FixTheCountry protest seriously as the campaign provides feedback that needs some attention.

“These are the feedback that you get when you are governing and people feel that there’s the need to comment, they have the right to do so,” he said.

Referring to the demonstration by the #FixTheCountry campaigners in Accra on Wednesday, he noted that, protests since the 1st Republic have been an effective tool of communication to political leaders in the country.

“Demonstrations have been part and parcel of the whole exercise to get political messages sent to holders of political power and also direct the frontiers of a country’s democracy.”

He said the previous republics saw some demonstrations, but under the 4th republic, “we’ve seen a lot of demonstrations and it is something that is worth seeing and must be done at all times.”

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Thursday, Dr Kwame Asah-Asante stressed that the #FixTheCountry campaign is important feedback as far as governance issues are concerned.

“There are things that the government believes that yes, they need to be fixed and the government must get ready and hit the ground running and then get them fixed.”

However, he also noted that there are some issues that may take time to be addressed, but “I’m sure all these things are signals that the government is picking and they are going to work on that because take it or leave it, this is the will of expression of the people and that you can’t ignore that from a democracy.”

Dr Asah-Asante stated that people require government to live up to expectation after receiving a mandate from them, “and at any point in time, you can be called to account for the stewardship of your office and that is exactly what the youth are doing.”

Describing the protest as, “an ample testimony that democracy is gaining strength in this country”, he advised the country to continue this tangent and make it all peaceful and have a continuous dialogue.

“I’m sure we would be able to strengthen the frontiers of our democracy and right the wrongs in our system,” he stressed.

The Political Science lecturer noted that the youth expects that when the issues are raised, the government will take time to reflect on them and also double up its efforts so that some of the things that can be done within the shortest possible time are addressed.

He, therefore, urged the government to, “let people see that there is action going on towards dealing with some of the concerns that they’ve raised that is all that there is.”

Meanwhile, the #FixTheCountry conveners have indicated their intention to replicate the protest in other regions.

The youth are demanding accountability, good governance, and better living conditions from the government.