Ace journalist and managing editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has said the security situation in West Africa is so grave that any “kume preko” type of protest in Ghana could spell doom for the country.
“Kume preko” is a demonstration that hit the country in 1995 and it is arguably the biggest protest to have occurred in Ghana’s history.
The high cost of living and the imposition of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on items fueled the demonstration against the then Rawlings administration.
Speaking with Nana Yaa Mensah on Sunday Night on Asaase Radio on the assertion that there is no difference between the “kume preko” era and situations that brought the likes of OccupyGhana, #FixTheCountry movement and Arise Ghana, Pratt said, “I disagree, there’s a lot of difference. So much difference…”
He said the current security situation in West Africa has added something else to the situation which existed in the mid-1990s.
Pratt said, “You have to understand the geopolitics of West Africa…history proves that what happens in the 15 countries in this region has a rippling effect in other countries…today, Nigeria is suffering from the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East of Nigeria.
“In the Niger Delta area there’s low-intensity civil war, in the east there’s the threat of Biafra; Nigeria is completely destabilized … There have been four coups in West Africa in the last two years; this whole situation in West Africa did not exist then … So the general geopolitics of West Africa has added something else to the situation which existed in the mid-1990s. And I’m afraid that if it gets to an explosion today the consequences may be direr than the consequences of “kume preko.”
Watch the interview below:
National cohesion
Pratt said the signs on the wall do not look bright with regard to the security situation in the country and called on the leaders to as a matter of urgency ensure national cohesion.
He added, “The security situation in West Africa is so bad that any ‘kume preko’ today would make ‘kume preko’ of 1995 look like a walk in the park…so the situation we’re facing today is so very grave and I do hope that our leaders realise that.”
“I hope our leaders would have the wisdom to begin to take steps now to ensure a certain level of national cohesion. The pursuit of national cohesion today is an urgent task. So far the signs I’m seeing; what I’m hearing from the political platforms suggest to me that we are heading for a crush and I’m deeply worried about it,” Pratt said.
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