Akufo-Addo dodges Ashaiman brutalities in SoNA

Ghanaians woke up to the horrifying news of military men invading Ashaiman to assault residents on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. This followed the killing of a military officer in the area on Saturday, March 4, 2023.

There have been several calls for government to speak about the issue and many expected the president of the republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Addo-Akufo, to address it during his State of the Nation Address on Wednesday but that was not the case.

The only mention of the military in the address was when the president listed equipment that have been provided by government to protect citizens.

“Mr. Speaker, I am able to cite here some of the equipment we have provided the military to help them protect us all. Allow me to list a few. The Army has received one hundred and four (104) armoured personnel carriers; seventy (70) utility troop carrying vehicles; twenty (20) armoured vehicles; eighty-five (85) assorted Toyota vehicles; fifty (50) Ankai buses; forty (40) Jeep J8 vehicles; some Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment; large quantities of communication/surveillance equipment; varying quantities of weapons and four (4) un-maned aerial vehicle systems; and the Ghana Navy has taken delivery of four (4) offshore security vessels and four (4) Zodiac boats," the president said.

He also spoke about the housing needs of the security service.

This won’t be the first time the president has ignored an issue Ghanaians expected him to speak about.

In July 2021, the president was criticised by the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, Most Reverend Philip Naameh, for his delay in addressing national issues while he ‘speedily’ does same on international matters.

This was after the president delayed in speaking about a stand-off between the youth in Ejura Sekyedumase and a joint police cum military team, which resulted in the death of two more people.

Ejura killings: Akufo-Addo’s late address on national issues worrying - Catholic Bishop

In April 2019 also, the president was blasted on social media for choosing to commiserate with France when Notre-Dame was damaged by fire over a flooding incident in Accra which caused the death of five people.

BBC Pidgin Report: Ghanaians blast Akufo-Addo over Notre Dame fire tweet

There have been many other instances where the president failed to speak on issues at the time the citizenry expected him to. Ghanaians can only hope he addresses the issue on ground sooner than later.

DA/WA