Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs & Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Prof. Kwesi Aning, has doffed his hat to former President Mahama for his tolerance of divergent views while governing the country.
Speaking at the John Evans Atta Mills Memorial Lecture for Central and Western Regions, he said he could vociferously criticise Mr. Mahama and still sleep soundly after such criticisms.
“And here, I want to celebrate and salute former President John Mahama. I criticized him, and he knows it. I never spared him. But I also slept soundly. I criticized the former president so much that every time he came to the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Centre, he said, ‘Let me see if Kwesi is there so that I can recognize him, so he doesn’t criticize me’. So, thank you very much,” Dr. Anning said.
Dr. Anning’s observation was a veiled comparison with the brutal and corrupt crackdown on dissent and criticism by the Akufo Addo administration.
State-sponsored murders of protestors, dissenters and critics have become commonplace in the administration which has been said to be the most brutal in Ghana’s entire the Fourth Republic.
Dr. Aning said general national security needs tolerance of divergent opinions to thrive and that without such tolerance there is easily, a state of insecurity.
The security expert said that the country’s security forces have not done a good job of providing adequate security for citizens, highlighting the violence and Police brutalities in Ejura, Nkoransa, and most recent national protests as examples.
“True security is for the farmer to wake up at 4 am and go to the farm without fear. Proper security is about our mothers leaving at about 2:30 am, travelling 300 kilometers to go and shop, knowing they will get to that market and return home. True security is about ensuring that you can walk up to a police officer and say I am lost, and he will not say, how much you would want to pay,” Dr. Anning prescribed.
Meanwhile, Prof. Aning praised late former President John Atta Mills for his exemplary leadership which was full of tolerance.
He urged the J.E.A. Mills Memorial Heritage board to begin compiling every piece of information about Professor Mills.