The Upper East Regional Communication Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Jonathan Abdallah Salifu, has bemoaned that the lukewarm attitude of the regional blocs in responding to issues bothering Member states is what is fueling coups in the subregion.
According to him, the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) are always reluctant to issue warnings to presidents who subvert the will of the people by changing their constitutions to extend their terms, yet are quick to issue statements in any uprising.
He noted that the citizens of many countries in Africa with valuable natural resources to feed them are rather wallowing in the abyss of poverty while the political class and their families live in luxury and possess more than enough resources.
This, he noted, would over time breed anger among the people and eventually lead to takeovers of government by the military for its failure to address the very problems it was elected to solve.
The communication officer emphasised that though coups in any form must not be encouraged, it is important that the blocs play their part by ensuring the right things are done to avoid more future occurrences.
He revealed this when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio Daybreak Upper East show regarding the recent coups in Africa and matters arising.
The Upper East Regional Deputy Communication Officer of the governing New Patriotic Party, Andrew Atariwini, also pointed out that presidents in Africa must begin to respect the will of the people by not attempting to hold onto power through subversive means.
According to him, any democratic process that does not take into consideration the will of the people is counterproductive to democracy and must be avoided.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
