Junior military officers could stage coup in Ghana – Mumuni Muqthar

The Executive Director of the West African Centre for Counter-Extremism (WACCE), Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar, has cautioned that the peace of the country could be destabilized if politicians use their power to control the frontline of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).

He said the frustrations of the people stemmed from hardship and injustice usually push the military to topple governments as seen recently in some African countries.

There have been military takeovers at Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea which have heightened insecurity in the sub-region.

“If you look at the recent history and even before, you often have fine younger people – captains and lesser ranks doing these things [coups],” Muqthar said on Ideas Exchange on TV XYZ Wednesday night.

The researcher who was speaking to host Eric Ahianyo on the insecurity in the country admitted that there was frustrations among a section of Ghanaians as pockets of violence gain grounds in the country amidst terrorist threats.

Asked if it will be dangerous for the security agencies to be in bed with the government at a time impunity soars among top politicians, the security expert noted that, “Traditionally, that is how many of the coups happen.”

“It’s usually out of the frustration and anguish of junior officers who know clearly that their leadership is being manipulated. And because they are unable to speak up or stand up to leadership, the angry younger officers often take the lead and do these coups,” he added.

He worryingly indicated that, “We could get to that point when this will happen. Because very honestly when you speak to people within the governing circles, and security institutions, and non security institutions, you would find a lot of these opinions and frustrations being shared.”

Reacting to why people are not keeping hope and wait for elections to change the government to the preferred choice of the majority of Ghanaians, Muqthar said “people are talking about it and quizzed “who is listening?”

Ghana, an oil production country, is struggling to stabilize the economy that is going through turbulent times as rising inflation and the rising cost of fuel bite citizens hard.

The country’s currency is also suffering a depreciation, especially against the US dollar, while the public debt level has attained an unsustainable level.

Source: Myxyzonline.com|Ghana