'Ghana Armed Forces is beyond that' — Nitiwul rejects coup fears amid regional contagion

The Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwul has assured Ghanaians that the Ghana Armed Forces will not stage a coup d’état in the country.

The Minister’s remarks follow the spate of coup d’états in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso and recently Niger which has been a matter of concern to many people.

Speaking to a journalist while conducting James Cleverly, UK Foreign Affairs, Development and the Commonwealth Minister around, Dominic Nitiwul assured Ghanaians that the Ghana Armed Forces is beyond a coup.

He said the Ghana Army are rather defenders of democracy.

“I can assure you the professionalism of the armed forces is par excellence and I am not worried at all. Not at all. I don’t worry about a member of any member armed forces taking arms to remove the government” he said.

“Not at all. They will rather protect the will of the people. They will rather not allow anybody to rig an election. Ghana Armed Forces is beyond that,” He added.

Last year in October, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urged the rank and file of the military to remain “Patriotic and loyal” to Ghana’s Republican Constitution in the face of the nation’s difficulties.

The President said this in a speech he passionately delivered in front of troops during his Kumasi Tour at Idris Barracks in the Ashanti Region.

Around that time, the President was so unpopular that he was booed by Adum Kejetia market men and women who were previously his core supporters.

Speaking about the difficulties the country is facing, President Akufo-Addo urged the military to support him to steer the nation out of the present challenges with loyalty.

President Akufo-Addo urged the security agency to remain “excellent patriots, excellent ambassadors of the security agencies and excellent citizens of our country”, saying he is very proud to serve as their Commander in Chief.

“We are going through a difficult time in the history of our country …. We are going through a difficult time in our economy. We also going through a difficult time as far as security is concerned” the President told the men and women in uniform.

“On the economy, we are all aware of the events that have taken place in the last year which has brought a lot of things under strain. We are making every effort in negotiations that are taking place with foreign partners to put our economy back in a good space. Very soon the difficulties that confront our economy are going to be things of the past.

The President went on: “I want to encourage you to continue the good work that you’re doing for our country. I encourage you to stand firm in your loyalty to the Republic, your loyalty to the Constitution of our nation so that the orderly, peaceful development of our country which is the only way that can guarantee the future prosperity we are all working for can come about….

"So that these [present] generations of Ghanaians will leave as our legacy, that even when things were difficult in Ghana, we all held together under our Republican institutions and our constitution to find a way to a better future for our nation. I am confident that we can do it and I am counting on you to help me do it.” the President concluded.