When the lenses of aggrieved Ghanaians land on you, you are likely to encounter a lot of difficulty when you try to wriggle out.
The National Youth Organiser for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Salam Mustapha, happens to be the newest catch in the web of social media users.
After the three-day protest dubbed #OccupyJulorBiHouse, the youth organiser of the NPP described the outcomes of the protest, and other actions undertaken by civil society groups to get the government to fix issues bedevilling the citizens, as ‘rhetoric’ and one that ‘borders on politics.’
This did not sit well with a number of the youth who hit the streets of Accra to demonstrate against the government.
However, an enthused social media user by the name ‘Receipts Guy’ has dug up a 2014 tweet of Salam Mustapha calling on the youth of Ghana to go out on July 1, 2014, to protest against the government of John Dramani Mahama.
“On 1st July, kindly join the march to the occupy the front lawn of the Flagstaff House to cry to the president that enko yie, it’s a civic duty,” parts of Salam’s 2014 read.
Salam Mustapha joined Berla Mundi and Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku on the September 25 edition of TV3 Newday for a discussion that ended in a ‘semi-altercation’
In short video clips from the program that have been shared on X, Berla Mundi begins the questions by asking the NPP youth organiser if, in hindsight, he didn’t think that what he said that all that was happening was not concrete, but only rhetoric, was disrespectful.
“Berla, I don’t know where you’re coming from with the word ‘disrespect’ because there’s no disrespect as far as opinions are concerned. If we express our opinions, you can’t call that disrespect,” he answered, just as the co-host, Naa Ashorkor butts in.
Unsatisfied with the response of the NPP national executive, Naa Ashorkor, listing out the things Salam described as rhetoric: the Motorway, fixing the road, cost of living, and other tangential, asked him if he uses the Accra-Tema Motorway.
“Of course, I do,” he responded, quickly followed by the question, “What is the state of the Motorway in your opinion?”
“If you use the Motorway today, you’ll see that work is ongoing, especially from the interchange being done from the Spintex to East Legon, to the Motorway. So, if you see what we did in 2019 when the second stage was commissioned, we said we’re starting the third phase, which includes the interchange…” he argued.
But Naa Ashorkor seemed to have had enough, and with her body language already telling this (as she rolls up her sleeves and readies to reply to him), she butts in again:
“OK, let me tell you. I was on the Motorway yesterday and I noticed there is work around the Accra Mall end of the Motorway - before the toll booth. The actual Motorway, which has been the cause of countless accidents over the years, I don’t know how many years, I was afraid for my life while I drove on the Motorway yesterday. The potholes are endless. There’s been a constant call by young people, in fact, all Ghanaians, asking for the Motorway to be fixed.
“I do not think that if people are out on the streets, calling for these things to be fixed, that it is okay for you to write a very long letter, calling these things rhetorics bordered on political lines. I do not think that just as you have agreed that the Motorway is bad, you should throw it off as a rhetoric. I also do not think that the many things that who feels it knows it, perhaps because of your position, or because of the experiences you have in your little world, you probably do not experience the things that people out on the streets experience. And because it is their fundamental human right – the freedom of expression, that means that they can say what they feel, in a peaceful protest, I do not think that it is alright for you, for the lack of the same challenges that they’re experiencing, that you don’t experience, I don’t think it’s ok for you to come out to call them rhetoric bordered on political lines.
“I think the least you could have done was to go ahead to mention the achievements of the party, which you did, which is fair, but to downplay, to water down, or to call irrelevant the things that the people are complaining about is a tad bit unfair.
"And so when Berla asked you earlier whether in hindsight, you would like to reconsider your position, especially in point number 3, I, honestly, expected you to come again, but for you to consistently say that after three days of the protest, you are unable to take home the most salient reason and demand for the protest and consider them as nothing concrete, I beg you to come again. Have you been to Korle-Bu in recent times? Do you not understand the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian?” she stated.
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The National Youth Organiser for the New Patriotic Party, Salam Mustapha