The Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration has come under fire from National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer John Dramani Mahama for cracking down on dissent.
He claimed that criticism of Ghanaians and free speech have been suppressed by the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
During his “Building Ghana Tour,” he stressed the importance of preserving democracy in the nation while addressing a durbar of students in the Ahafo Region.
“In any democracy in any country, the right to free speech is very important. And free expression, when you suppress it, when things go wrong, you don’t know. At the time I was president, we allowed people to speak freely. And so, if things were not going well in schools, the headmasters and the teachers could complain and could talk.
“Unfortunately, that changed when the Nana Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government came in. It was a very autocratic, vindictive government. And so, if you were a teacher or a headmaster and things were not going well in your school or the educational system, if you talked about it, they would either sack you or they’ll transfer you,” he said.
He emphasized further that many Ghanaians are afraid to speak out about wrongdoings and happenings in their country because of the autocratic atmosphere.
“… And so, it instituted a culture of fear amongst public servants,” he added.
The former president added that government employees nationwide are afraid of being arrested or fired from their positions, so they are unable to voice their dissatisfaction about the poor quality of their work.
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the opposition NDC, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has added his two cents on the 24-hour economy policy proposed by NDC flagbearer, John Mahama.
Speaking at a gathering, Asiedu Nketiah asserted that the 24-hour economy policy will be the game changer for Ghanaians.
According to him, this policy will ensure that all Ghanaians get access to 24-hour electricity at a low discount in order speed up productivity.
