Timothy Ataboadey Awontiirim is former MP for Builsa North
Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa North, Timothy Ataboadey Awontiirim has said the social media campaign #FixTheCountry has gained grounds in the country mainly because of the failure on the part of the Akufo-Addo-led administration to improve on the living standard of Ghanaians.
Over 240,000 Ghanaians, particularly the youth, over the weekend took to social media site–Twitter– to vent their spleen over what they described as the mess left to fester in the country.
They lamented the lack of employment opportunities for the youth especially university graduates and the government’s failure to provide stable electricity power and water for citizens. Others raised serious concerns over the abandonment of critical projects initiated by past government and the bad nature of roads in the country.
A lot of them who lambasted the government for the escalating activities of illegal small scale miners popularly known as galamsey and high fuel prices said the country was broken and needed to be fixed without any negotiation.
The leadership of the group have notes the police of a protest on May 9 to out their messages across but the police has said they cannot grant them their wish.
Adding his voice to the issue in Morning Update on TV XYZ, Mr Awintirim recalled how then opposition leader Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the late Prof. JEA Mills’ regime simply referred to him as as “Professor do little” because he was finding it difficult to stabilize the economy under a shortest possible time but will be quick to resort to empty rhetoric to save his face now.
Mr Awontiirim went on and detailed that in 1995 when president Akufo-Addo led the massive kumepreko demonstration for the same economic hardships in the country, it was not about the Ghanaian people fixing their attitudes.
He stressed that in the wake of the COVID-19, two demonstrations were held against former president John Mahama in Accra and now the police administration has said they can’t guarantee that protestors will adhere to COVID-19 protocol.
He sees the statement preventing the group from hitting the streets as a infantile and a scheme to stop the protestors who are on the neck of the government to fix all degraded sectors of the economy.
To him, the government ought to listen to the cries of the ordinary Ghanaians for them to embark on a peaceful demonstration adding that using “flimsy” excuses to stop the protestors could heighten the anger among the youth which is likely to translate into an uncontrollable situation the security output cannot withstand.
The former lawmaker said the youth are the engine of the country and they have realized that the current government is on the ladder of corruption, nepotism, unemployment while the president is alleged to be paying for a private jet for a relaxation at an amount of $17,000.
The extravagant lifestyle of those in government at the expense of the ordinary Ghanaian, he observed, has fueled the agitation for the government to fix the mess in the country.
He concluded that the youth of this country are demanding accountability from the government and the impending demonstration serves as a warning for the government to deliver on its fat promises.