Coup comment: Anyidoho was possessed by ‘Gbeshe’ spirit – Ablakwa

Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency has described ‘coup comments’ made by his colleague party member, Koku Anyidoho as an action instigated by a temporal ‘possession’ of the same by a ‘Gbeshe’ spirit.

Citing the words of Former Attorney General Nii Ayikoi Otoo, he stated that politicians sometimes go overboard in their expressions particularly when they are enraged by certain occurrences around them, something he will describe as a brief possession by a spirit of sort; ‘Gbeshe’ spirit specifically like the Lawyer will put it. In this particular instance he said, Mr. Anyidoho can be described as having been ‘possessed’ by one such spirit such that he lost control of what he was saying and went overboard.

“I must add quite hesitantly that across the divide, there have been politicians who if I’ll borrow the words of respected Lawyer and Former Attorney General, Ayikoi Otoo who talks about some Gbeshe spirit which sometimes falls on politicians and so we engage in excesses. I will describe Koku Anyidoho’s interview that he himself with hindsight, will say that he went overboard” he said.

Mr. Ablakwa believes that though Anyidoho’s words were completely needless and irresponsible, they were fueled by the constant goading from the host of the program on which he spoke. According to him, having sensed anger from Anyidoho’s previous responses, the host ought to have diverted the topic or rather found a different way of approaching the issue so as to avoid Koku repeating his words for emphasis and going overboard in the process.

“That’s where the role of the media comes in…. I would have wished that the Happy FM host would have terminated the interview at that point. Because when the Gbeshe spirit is on politicians across the divide, you ought not goad them on. If you listen to the interview, there was some amount of goading. It gives him the opportunity to go on and on and on. I think that holding no brief for Koku, let’s call for greater media responsibility”, he said.

Ablakwa speaking on Joy News’ Newsfile program outrightly condemned the comments from the Deputy General Secretary and lauded his immediate boss, Johnson Asiedu Nketia for distancing the party from the said comments. He maintained that the NDC respects by all standards, the laws and the constitution of the country and would therefore under no circumstance take any action to compromise its sovereignty and the peace of the citizenry.

“The whole episode is quite unfortunate at all levels. General Secretary of the party and our leader did the right thing by distancing the party from the statement by Koku Anyidoho. The NDC believes in our democratic dispensation, believes in the current constitutional order and would not do anything to subvert the constitution and the current democratic dispensation. This is a party that of the seven elections that have been conducted in the fourth republic, we have a better record at winning elections. We have won four elections, we still consider ourselves a very viable party capable of winning elections any day and therefore there is absolutely no motivation, advantage in seeking any other method of coming into power or defeating the NPP in extra democratic means, there can be no motivation at all in the very least. We remain committed to the constitutional order”, he noted.



Background

Anyidoho had in an interview on Accra-based Happy FM, indicated that President Akufo-Addo will be overthrown just like his father and the late Dr. K. A Busia due to the ratification of the controversial defence cooperation agreement between Ghana and the US.

“There will be a civilian coup d’état. There will be a social revolution. We [NDC] are starting it on Wednesday. The movement is starting on Wednesday. Nana Addo will have sleepless nights. He will suffer diarrhea. He said he wanted to be president, but we will make sure he will be fed up on the seat,’’ he added.

Anyidoho has since been widely condemned for the comment and consequently was arrested by the CID on Tuesday March 27. Mr. Anyidoho was detained for 48 hours and released on Thursday March 29. He is currently on police enquiry bail.