The Member of Parliament for Asunafo North, Haruna Mohammed, has criticised the Presidency for delegating Presidential Staffer Nana Yaa Akyenpim Jantuah to receive the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) petition, describing the decision as “disrespectful”.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Thursday, August 6, following the NPP’s “Democracy Under Attack” demonstration, Mr Mohammed argued that the government should have sent a more senior official to receive the petition on behalf of President John Mahama.

“Our reservation comes from the fact that the government has not taken the people of Ghana seriously,” he said.

According to him, the demonstration was organised in response to what the NPP considers politically motivated prosecutions, the selective application of justice and disregard for due process.

“This demonstration that we are having is a response to some emerging patterns of politically motivated persecutions, the selective application of the justice system in Ghana currently, and the disregard for due process,” he said.

Mr Mohammed maintained that the issues raised by the party threaten Ghana’s democratic institutions and therefore deserved a more serious response from the Presidency.

“Having considered these three issues, which we think pose a very serious threat to the work of our democratic institutions, we thought the government would take them seriously and send a very senior official,” he stated.

He noted that the NPP was represented at the demonstration by its top leadership, including the Minority Leader, the party’s General Secretary, Members of Parliament and other senior officials.

“This is the entire party machinery appearing before the Presidency, and the Presidency ought to have respected the leadership of the party,” he said.

Mr Mohammed argued that delegating Nana Yaa Jantuah to receive the petition failed to reflect the significance of the concerns raised by the party.

“It was very disrespectful. There was no seriousness attached to it, and that is what we observed,” he stated.

He further claimed that the Presidency’s decision created the impression that the government was unwilling to engage meaningfully with the opposition despite the presence of senior NPP officials and representatives of other political parties.

“It tells you that they are not prepared to listen to the opposition party. Having seen the entire machinery of the opposition party, including other political parties that were there in support of the demonstration, the government should have attached more seriousness to it and sent a very senior official to receive the petition,” he added.