‘Let’s protect dignity of presidency’
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It expressed worry about how some Ghanaians hid behind freedom of speech and political expediency to denigrate and attack the personality particularly of those in public positions for their political gains.
A deputy Minister of Information, Mr Murtala Mohammed, said this at the daily media briefing session at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.
He was answering questions from journalists on the arrest and detention of a former Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Michael Omari Wadie, for allegedly posting on his Facebook wall a doctored photo which portrayed President Mahama as having sex with a woman in an office.
The suspect was purportedly picked up by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) at the Kotoka International Airport last Monday, on his arrival from London.
Mr Mohammed, therefore, called for decency and decorum in Ghanaian politics, saying “You may dislike president John Dramani Mahama as a person, but the presidency must be accorded the respect and the dignity it deserves.”
He warned those who took the joy in maligning President Mahama that his (Mahama’s) tenure would end as the constitution required but the “presidency would remain forever.”
“ Can you imagine the psychological trauma that the wife and children of the President may suffer as a result of that recklessness and indecent concoction on the part of mischief makers?”, he asked.
On claims by a deputy Communications Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Sammy Awuku, linking the government to the arrest, he said it was high time those who committed offence were made to face the full rigours of the law.
He said there was a distinction between the government and state institutions and stressed the need for such enforcement agencies to be given the free will to operate
“ I don’t know which part of the law that prevents state institutions from carrying out their legitimate responsibilities and in this case investigating a reckless action,” he said.
Reacting to media reports that Captain Kojo Tsikata’s presence at the Supreme Court last week was to intimidate the panel of judges, Mr Mohammed said “our judges cannot be threatened.”
He said it was infantile and preposterous to imagine that the presence of Mr Tsikata, who was in court to lend support to his party, was a threat to anybody saying “ we have been seeing the presence of NPP gurus in court on a daily basis.”
Mr Mohammed reaffirmed the government’s commitment to deliver on the its manifesto promises.
Concerning education, he said the promise to construct 200 schools and a university in the Eastern Region was on course and announced that a technical committee was ready to acquire lands in the regions for the commencement of work on the projects.
Story: Timothy Gobah
