What we need to fear is not coups, but civil disobedience and uprising – Speaker to Africa leaders

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has called on African leaders to prioritize concerns related to citizen uprisings and civil disobedience over military coup d’état.

The speaker said this during a visit to the Paramount Chief of the Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketia V, as part of the 30th celebration of Parliamentary Democracy in Ghana held in Takoradi.

In a newspaper report by the Chronicle dated August 10, 2023, the seasoned politician indicated that if the citizens of a country do not what they want, they tend to rise against the government of the day.

“What we need to fear is not coups, but civil disobedience and uprising. When the people do not get what they want, they get fed up and they rise up. And when they rise up, you do not know whom they are coming to," he said.

The speaker justified his stance by reflecting on Ghana's history with military coups, explaining that such interventions often resulted in civilian casualties and suffering.

He advocated for a shift towards open governance where elected governments actively listened to the voices of their constituents.

"It's important we listen to the people who elected us. One mistake we make is that our democracy is not developing, because those we elected are assumed to know, and that is not the case, so [in] all the countries surrounding us there are explosions," he continued.

Presently in the West and North African bloc have been experiencing series of military takeover in recent times.

The recent of such take over occurred in Niger where a group of presidential guards abducted the president and put him under house arrest and announced that they have taken overpower.

The group of military officers is being led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani.

NW/OGB

Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV below:

You can also watch the latest episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below: