2024 Election: The threat of a coup is real; the army has openly said it would step in if there is violence – IDEG boss
The Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey, has asserted that Ghana’s democracy is under threat if the concerns of the pending election turning violent are not addressed.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, Dr. Akwetey noted that the Ghana Armed Forces has on more than two occasions threatened that if elections in the country turn violent beyond the control of the Ghana Police Service, it would intervene.
He added that these threats from the army should be taken seriously because they point to nothing but the end of civil rule and a military overthrow.
“The Armed Forces of Ghana since 2016 have clearly and openly in press conferences threatened that if violence breaks out in the country over election disputes or whatever and the police cannot deal with it and it’s escalating or threatening, they will step in. And they said if they did so, it would be to protect the territorial integrity, our peace, and our national unity.
“That would be a coup because the police cannot deal with nationwide violence. They are not equipped for that. It’s not about parliamentary elections, it’s about presidential elections because the president is elected throughout the country. And they have said that a second time in 2020 and probably even the third time they’ve even started talking about it so early,” he said.
The IDEG boss added, “Read the papers, and you will see the threat is real in a sub-region where there is a drift towards the military or the return of military governments. And ECOWAS is facing some challenges in dealing with these issues.”
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
