The condemnation of recent violence at the residence of opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo by UK and US foreign missions is only borne out of concern for the security of their citizens and not an attempt to meddle in the political affairs of the country, a political science lecturer, Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, has said.
Gunshots were fired from the compound of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer on Sunday November 13, by his security following alleged stone throwing by some supporters of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), who had gathered in front of his house as they embarked on a health walk.
The US and UK missions in Accra, a day after the incident, issued statements condemning the attack, warning further that persons who incite or engage in electoral violence will be denied visas to their countries or have their visas revoked.
The NDC, responding to the statements, said it viewed the statements as one-sided, given such diplomatic missions had been silent on previous incidents of violence involving the NPP and its supporters.
Others have also viewed the statements from the US and UK missions as a threat to the sovereignty of the country since they are an overt attempt to interfere with Ghana’s domestic affairs.
But the KNUST lecturer disagreed with such talk, saying the foreign bodies were primarily concerned with the safety of their nationals here, since they will also be affected in the event of a breakout of violence.
“If some countries like the US and UK have spoken about the matter, their interest is not about interfering in Ghana’s elections or Ghana’s politics. We know that historically …other countries have shown interest to usurp our national authority and to also see that our political arrangement will favour a certain ideological cause,” he said.
“That notwithstanding, today, if America has interest in Ghana’s polls, it is because of their citizens who are in this country. Inasmuch as there are global security threats and all, if Ghana can disturb its own peace, what is the guarantee that Ghanaians who will come to their country will not come and disturb the peace there?”
“So it is…a security arrangement that some of these arrangements will come up. If we, Ghanaians, do not respect the sovereignty of our state and we [have no desire] to preserve the security of our country, it’s our own problem.”
According to him, the world sees Ghana as the “best democracy” within the sub-region and beyond, having continually maintained the peace in the face of “crisis”, “rumours of war, counter-wars and existing troubles” in neighbouring countries for which reason such powers found it necessary to speak up on the weekend’s unrest.
“…At every stage, you have to understand if you are a political leader or you play a role in any political party you can’t play games… [and] just make statements that have some hefty dose of negative effects and impact. We have to respect the fact that the Americas will always – in terms of international diplomacy – look at security and protection of their citizens. If Ghana would not respect itself and protect its citizens…it is up to them to also protect themselves. And they will not only protect their citizens who are in this country, but they will make sure Ghanaians will not bring their troubles to their country. It’s as simple as that,” he warned.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
