It doesn't matter if protests are politically motivated - Sammy Gyamfi

The Communications Officer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has dispelled the assertion that demonstrations or protests in Ghana are only fuelled by politics.

According to the politician, demonstrations are triggered by the struggles that are evident in the day-to-day lives of citizens and hence, no one can politically force them down the throats of people.

Sammy Gyamfi who was speaking on GhanaWeb TV’s Legal Agenda with Matilda Nartey explained that it is even right for political parties to protest against bad governance as a way of fighting for the citizens.

He further stated that political parties are the pillars of democracy and hence, there is nothing wrong with politically driven protests.

Adding that what the government of the day has to focus on is the message and signals the electorates are sending to it.

“Political parties are the vehicles through which multiparty democratic systems work or are built. That is why we call our system of democracy a multiparty democracy. So, in a multiparty democracy, you should have a situation where political parties, if dissatisfied with the governance of the country, should boldly step out there and take on the government, call out the government, ask for a change and fight for the people. Because many people are on the streets of our country even in this very community of Odododiodio who are struggling.

“They go to the hospital and there are no beds for them to sleep on. They suffer from kidney conditions and they can’t pay for dialysis whose cost has been increased from three hundred and something Ghana cedis to almost eight hundred cedis today. Children go to the hospital and there are no incubators for them. Doctors don’t have basic equipment to take care of simple health conditions in our hospitals and many of these people do not have the kind of access that we in the political have,” he said.

He also added, “How many of them can have an opportunity to speak on a platform like this like I have? So, it is the responsibility of responsible political parties to speak for the people and so it doesn’t matter at all whether a demonstration is political or not.”

In a space of three weeks, Ghana was hit with two powerful demonstrations dubbed #OccupyJulorbiHouse and #OccupyBOG powered by the youth and the opposition party NDC respectively.

The participants of these protests sought to bring the attention of the government to the difficulties and struggles that are nearly choking the citizenry.



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