- "Gone were the days nobody will even invite you. You can have your say but government will have its way, if you go on demonstration, they will come and deal with you with hot water, they will beat you and all that."
Professor Ransford Gyampo, an associate professor at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana said government has been proactive with its response to the concerns of the conveners of the #FixTheCountry campaign.
“This is a movement that has had the greatest impact on government in the history of Ghana’s Fourth Republic,” Prof Gyampo told The Asaase Breakfast Show host Kojo Mensah on 14 May 2021.
He added: “Not even Kume preko had this kind of impact. It had a certain tremendous impact on government forcing government to come and explain and, in their explanation, government hasn’t called their bluff.”
“Gone were the days nobody will even invite you. You can have your say but government will have its way, if you go on demonstration, they will come and deal with you with hot water, they will beat you and all that.
“But you can see a government trying to say, no don’t demonstrate because we are still not out of the woods yet as far as COVID-19 is concerned and goes ahead to admit some of the challenges that the people are voicing and making pledges or addressing what is being done,” Gyampo said.
He, however, chided some elements in government who initially responded by asking the organisers “to fix themselves first”.
Maintain the group
Prof Gyampo said the conveners should hold the group together to demand accountability from current and successive governments.
On his part, the Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, who also spoke on the programme commended the president for his exemplary leadership for the swift response to address the concerns of the group.
He called on the conveners of #FixTheCountry campaign to continue to dialogue with government to address their concerns.
“At least for now, there is some reason for us to believe that government is doing something and there is also reason for us to believe that the call by the #FixTheCountry organisers is also right…”
Fred Dzakpata
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