Govt members condemn law professor over coup comments
It's unfortunate - SG Forum reacts to calls for arrest
The Dean of the University of Ghana School of Law, Prof. Raymond Atuguba, has come on the receiving end of a lot of flax from persons within the government, as well as other members of the ruling New Patriotic Party over some comments he made at a recent lecture.
Prof. Atuguba addressed the Solidaire Governance Forum on the state of the Ghanaian economy and its effect on constitutional processes, where he alluded that the current state of the nation’s economy could be a potential basis for a coup d’état.
Following this, many descended on the law professor, calling for his arrest over what they call his incitement for calls for a coup d’état to happen in the country.
These calls have however been described by the civil society group, Solidaire Governance Forum, as unfortunate.
Its Executive Director, Benjamin Essuman, said in a statement that Prof. Raymond Atuguba, who is an Honorary Fellow of the Forum, spoke within a context.
“The Professor indeed made a harmless call to nationalism and sacrifice to save the broken Ghanaian economy. As part of his speech, he called on Government to make sacrifices that will encourage Ghanaians to accept the obnoxious E-Levy.
“According to him, rescuing the economy is so critical that failure to do so may embolden some adventurous elements who may attempt an overthrow of the current constitutional order, using the state of the broken economy as justification,” the CSO stated.
According to the group, it finds it unfortunate that some persons known to wield power around President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo have sought to tarnish the image of Prof Atuguba by inciting members of the ruling New Patriotic Party to twist the import of his assertion.
“It is therefore unfortunate that persons who are known to wield so much power around the President, will use various mediums in a brazen attempt to sully the reputation of this legal luminary and thereby inspire their notorious party members to twist the import of Prof. Atuguba’s message and go further to make false claims against him,” the group said.
But what were the exact statements that were made by the astute lawyer during the lecture?
Here is a full text of the lecture Prof Raymond Atuguba delivered at the Solitaire Governance Forum on Monday, February 28, 2022:
