Deputy Director of Operations at the Presidency, Mustapha Gbande, has dismissed the petition submitted by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) following its “Democracy Under Attack” demonstration, describing it as lacking merit and undeserving of the government’s attention.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM on Thursday, August 6, Gbande said the John Dramani Mahama-led administration remains committed to governance and delivering on its mandate rather than being distracted by opposition-led protests.
His remarks came shortly after the NPP presented its petition to the Presidency at the end of its demonstration.
According to Gbande, the successful conduct of the protest without any major incidents demonstrates that democratic rights, including the freedoms of assembly and expression, continue to be upheld in Ghana.
“I’ll assume that they have successfully demonstrated. Nobody is hurt. The police have been law-abiding; they protected them, quite apart from their waywardness, and ensured that whatever they intended had finished,” he said.
Gbande further argued that the contents of the petition would not influence the government’s agenda, maintaining that it failed to raise issues warranting serious consideration.
“Let me assure you that the petition they have submitted, nobody is going to have time to read it because it doesn’t make sense, and nobody is going to waste time. We have a nation to build. We have a country to build,” he stated.
The NPP organised the “Democracy Under Attack” demonstration to express concerns over what it describes as growing threats to Ghana’s democratic governance. The party subsequently presented a petition to the Presidency outlining its grievances.
The Presidency has yet to issue an official statement on the contents of the petition beyond Gbande’s comments.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
