Renowned constitutional lawyer and the of the Ghana School of Law at the University of Ghana has issued a chilling warning that a possible coup d’état is imminent in Ghana.
He gave the warning at a public lecture organized by the Civil Society group, Solidaire Ghana, on the 28th of February.
“We do not want a coup in this country, yet I fear that if we do not act quickly, we may have one in our hands very soon,” he warned.
Prof. Atuguba who had lectured on the topic: “A reviewed 1992 constitution and its impact on the economy of Ghana: looking forward.”
According to him, a number of factors inform his fear that the country may soon experience a coup, including the poor state of the economy and the current spell of coups in the West African sub-region.
Also, he lamented the silence of Ghana’s moral society, civil society groups and others who vociferously criticized the previous administration while looking on unconcerned as things go bad in the current Akufo Addo administration noted for its high corruption, brutal crackdown on dissenters, and the politicisation of the judiciary.
However, probably the most sobering of Prof. Atuguba’s reasons are also based on revelatios by his colleague who now lectures at the War College in the USA.
“My friend’s Ph.D. thesis was on the topic “Why certain Coups succeed and why others fail. His case study. My current assessment that Ghana may be ripe for a coup partly springs from the knowledge I gained from accompanying my friend through part of his doctrinal research on this topic.”
He adds that “It does not help matters if we consider Samuel Huntington’s thesis on the snowballing effect of coups in the sub-region and the closeness of recent coups to home. I urge my good friend, the Minister of National Security, Hon. Kan Dapaah, to have a conversation with my friend at the War College.”
According to him, an important catalyst to why certain coup d’états fail or succeed is the economy. And yet, the Akufo Addo administration which had become extremely paranoid about the mentioning of the word “coup” has run the Ghanaian economy aground, is attempting to tax the savings of residents with an obnoxious electronic levy (e-levy).
Over 90% of Ghanaians in several studies conducted by independent organisations have expressed their strong opposition to the e-levy. But the Akufo Addo administration has stated explicitly that that is the only way the economy can be saved from total collapse.
The Jubilee House may not want to openly admit it, but the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta would not stay quiet about the damning prospect for the economy as he admits: “the legitimate reality is that there is no money.”
Professor Atugubah reiterates this view of the Finance Minister, “Ghana is broke. Your nation is radically broke; so broke the Speaker of Parliament has publicly warned, gavel in hand, that we may not be able to pay the salaries of public sector workers in some three months unless a miracle happens.”
Meanwhile, Prof. Atuguba dedicated the lecture to a number of freedom fighters and activists wishing to get Ghana’s legal system to work as envisioned by the framers of the 1992 Constitution, including Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the Convener of the #FixTheCountry pressure group who has been thrown into cells by the Akufo-Addo government over a supposed coup threat from his Facebook posts.
“This lecture is dedicated to Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor another junior brother of mine for all his work in trying to #FixTheCountry and to reform our constitution. It is also dedicated to my big brother Akoto Ampaw and Justice Serensaa and all the other lawyers and activists who are working around the clock to secure his release from unlawful detention.”
“I visited Mawuse in jail some two weeks ago and the conditions under which he was being held are not fit even for your worst enemy. But for this lecture, I would have joined the legal team in court today. It is no coincidence that his first court visit was on the 14th February, Valentine’s Day and his next court visit today is the anniversary of the 28th February 1948 shooting. We live in a spiritual world…Those who have spiritual ears, let them hear.”
Prof. Atuguba also underscored the attack on the freedom of speech in the country by saying, “Let me end this part of my speech here before I am arrested or before they send the tax authorities to come and find fault with my law firm by force.”
Meanwhile, the respected legal luminary blew the cover of National Security operatives who had been secretly deployed at the Lecture, saying he knew them personally because he had worked with them before.