#FixTheCountry protest a wake-up call – Political Scientist

Senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante has described the #FixTheCountry campaign as a “wake-up call” for the country’s leadership.

While admitting that the timing of the campaign may be “unfair” for the 4-month-old NPP administration, he still believes that the campaign is a “good beginning” for the change Ghanaians seek.

“…It is too much for the Government because the government has not even begun and you are demanding accountability and performance from the government, which to a very large extent is very unfair.

“This government is just about 4 months old and now that it is even being formed. We have deputy ministers who have been nominated and they are now going to be vetted to be part of government,” Mr Asah-Asante stated.

“For me, it’s a good beginning but I also think that they must hasten slowly for government to start so that you can take government on,” he added.https://www.youtube.com/embed/PhGLITiCPmY

His comment comes ahead of the #FixTheCountry protest scheduled for May 9. Its main objective is to allow protestors to register their unhappiness over what they describe as a failure by successive governments to improve the livelihood of the citizenry.

In the letter signed by 20 individuals, they explained that the date, May 9, was selected to memorialise the 126 victims of the Accra Sports Stadium disaster some 20 years ago at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Mr Asah-Asante, speaking on Joy News’ pm: Express further stated that the campaign should be taken as a call to duty by the government.

“The state must make a conscious effort to be able to fix some of these things for the society, so if a group emerges today that they want to throw light of this thing, it is a call to duty.

“Criticisms are the oils that grease the wheels of governance and shape the frontiers of government to enable those holders of political power to deliver the public goods,” he told host of PM Express, Evan Mensah.https://www.youtube.com/embed/jPkEfGI_fY0

Mr Asah-Asante further urged the government to take a cue from the campaign as it is congruent with the country’s constitution.

“Power springs from the people…you realise that you can never govern without people having a say in the governing processes, and for me, it is in line with the governing processes of the preamble of the 1992 Constitution which gives everybody the opportunity to be heard about how he or she is governed.”

myjoyonline.com