News

Friday, March 11, 2016

Prez Mills, speak now! declares Minority in Parliament
Audrey Micah, Ghanadot

Accra, March 25, Ghanadot - The Minority in Parliament has called on the president to publicly comment on the issue as it is becoming unbearably embarrassing on how the Ga Youth are handling the ex-president.

Addressing a press conference, the Minority Leader and his deputy, Osei Kyei-Mesah-Bonsu and Ambrose Dery respectively said ex-president Rawlings upon exiting the presidency at the end of his term in office, identified an office for himself but that did not generate any controversy.

The minority questioned the justification for the brouhaha surrounding Mr. Kufuor’s use of a state bungalow as his office and the ‘loud’ silence of President J.E.A. Mills over the matter.

They wanted the president to, as a matter of urgency, address the issues and stop the ‘subtly orchestrated’ means to embarrass the former president.

In a contrast, presidential spokesperson, Mahama Ayariga rejected the suggestions saying there was “no any orchestrated act of vendetta against the former president”.

To him, the government was doing everything it could to accord Mr. Kufuor a peaceful retirement in order to be able to tap some of the remaining energy in him for national development and stressed the need for all parties involved in the issue to exercise maximum restraint and allow due process to be followed and completed.

He said, since National Security had expressed interest in the matter it was important to liaise with them to resolve the controversy.

Mr. Ayariga added that if the office of ex-President Kufuor dialogues with National Security and the presidency, the issue would be amicably resolved.

He was not happy with a group calling itself Ga Youth Association which threatened to evict the former president from the building.

While admitting that it was within their constitutional right to express their opinions on the saga, he argued that the group did not have any legal locus to eject Mr. Kufuor from the facility.

In a related development, the Alliance for Accountable Governance, (AFAG) has expressed its displeasure at President John Mills for remaining silent as some sections of the Ga Traditional Council are calling for the expulsion of former President Kufuor from his Ridge office.

The latest to add its voice to the eviction notice is the Osu Traditional Council who say the former president’s use of the office facility could spark off clashes between NDC and NPP youth in the area.

The traditional area, according to them would be better served if Mr. Kufuor revises his intention of using the office.

AFAG noted that silence as being portrayed by Civil Society groups is not healthy as the former leader of the nation faces confrontation from factions with tribally-ill motives.

The group also called on President John Mills to immediately take practical steps to stem the tide of ethnocentrism which is seeking to devour the country.

Ghanadot