A lecturer at the History Department of the University of Education, Winneba, Wilson Dabuo has described predictions of a possible coup d’état in Ghana by a section of the Ghanaian public including security experts as intellectual blindness and logical bankruptcy.
According to the lecturer, the circumstances which led to coup d’états in other African countries including Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso and recently, Guinea are absent in Ghana hence, it is preposterous for anyone to predict an imminent military takeover in the country on the basis of the happenings in Guinea and the other African countries.
Juxtaposing the political atmosphere in Guinea, prior to the coup d’état, with that in Ghana, Mr. Dabou argued that while the Guinean first democratically elected president failed to honor his pledge of upholding the rule of law and strengthening the tenets of democracy, the various presidents of Ghana, since the country’s return to constitutional rule in 1992, have upheld the rule of law, respected the laws of the country and further deepened the country’s democratic credentials thus, there are no such conditions to warrant a military takeover.
“In the recent coup in Guinea, I have read and watched with utter amazement the outpouring of excitement by a section of Ghanaians, including some civil service organisations and notable individuals and political groups. Unfortunately, as it is in our nature, they have done a comparative analysis of the situation in Guinea and already spelled doom for Ghana. This is intellectual blindness and indeed the bankruptcy of our logic as citizens. But let me state without any equivocation that the situation in Guinea or as happened in Mali, Togo, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, presents a significant scenario, totally different from Ghana and therefore anyone who wants coup in Ghana must proffer some alternative reasons.
Condé, 83, took power 11 years ago in the country’s first democratic election since its independence from France in 1958. Condé rose to power in 2010, pledging to break the decades-long streak of autocratic rule and to create wealth for the ordinary citizens of Guinea through its natural resources. But he turned up against his own vision and sought a third term, setting off a wave of protests in the major towns of Guinea. Many demonstrators died as they clashed with these same Military forces who are claiming power today in the capital. It’s obvious from the above that, the situation in Guinea or anywhere else cannot in any stretch of explanation be compared with Ghana,” he stated in post on social media.
He added “You might be politically hungry and tasty for power but the alternative cannot be founded on coup making but rather in the policy alternative that you will present in the form of a manifesto and presented to the Ghanaian populace. Your ecstasy as founded in the Guinean coup could just be as the morning dew, it only last just for a while”.
Wilson Dabuo said this while reacting to the apparent excitement and jubilation by a section of the public over the coup d’état in sister country, Guinea and predictions of a similar occurrence in Ghana. The Guinean military led by Mamady Doumbouya announced, in a short broadcast on Sunday, September 5, 2021 on state television, that they have dissolved the Alpha Condé-led government and the Constitution and taken over the reins of governance of the country.
The military cited rampant corruption, mismanagement of the country and economic hardships in the country as reasons for their intervention. They have since pledged to form a union government in the coming weeks.
But international organizations including the United Nations, Africa Union (AU) and ECOWAS have condemned their actions.
Condemning the coup d’état in a statement signed by its Chairman, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, ECOWAS demanded an unconditional release of President Alpha Condé and a return to constitutional rule.
However, many Ghanaians seem happy about the turn of events in Guinea and have taken to social to praise the Guinean military for toppling the democratically elected Alpha Condé’s government while predicting a similar occurrence in Ghana with some going to the extent of wishing for it.
But Mr. Dabuo, who is taken aback by such reactions, contended that military takeovers on the continent, historically, have not yielded any positive results and in most cases, have worsened situations in many parts of the continent and thus, Africans should have learnt from such experiences and not support or jubilate over an overthrow of a constitution.
