Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho has stressed on the need for citizens to observe their civic responsibilities instead of chorusing their abstentions.

Mr. Anyidoho who doubles as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Atta-Mills Institute is of the view that all eligible voters must partake in the choice of who represents them since their refusal to do so gives them no moral right to criticize a government and whine over hardship.

“People should go and register. I meet people and they say ‘I’ve never voted before’. I say ‘you’ve never voted before but you’re complaining about hardship. You should be sent to the Accra Sports stadium and flogged’,” he said on Happy FM, Wednesday. “You’ve never voted and you’re complaining. Who are you complaining to? Go and vote and give yourself a voice in the choice of who leads this nation.”

Anyidoho refused to rate the Akufo-Addo government. According to him, he will not be “a pundit”, rather, he will “leave that decision to Ghanaians.” He however said, “On the general score of governance, his government is challenged in terms of fulfillment of promises.”

“Like every government, the Akufo-Addo government has its challenges.”

He lauded President Akufo-Addo for what he describes as “decisive leadership”. According to him, the president’s decision to urge his communicators to avoid the politics of insult is worth commending.

Citing how some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) hurled insults at Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang after she was named the running mate for NDC flagbearer John Dramani Mahama, Anyidoho said Akufo-Addo’s intervention was spot on.

“President Akufo-Addo was in self-isolation. When people from his party were insulting Prof Naana Jane, he zoomed in from isolation and he warned his frontline communicators not to go on the insult tangent; they should stay on message. When that happened, I’ve not heard anybody insult the woman again. Decisive leadership,” he said.