Leaders of the #FixTheCountry and #FixTheCountryNow social media campaign have descended heavily on members of the Akufo-Addo Government who describe them as stooges of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The group, that has piled pressure on the Government for almost two weeks to fulfill its numerous promises to Ghanaians, say they are Ghanaians who think the country is not on the right track and need to steered well to create opportunities for the citizens.
Bashiratu Kamal-Muslim, one of the conveners of the #FixTheCountry campaign, who spoke to Nana Abena Serwah, co-host of Morning Update On TV XYZ, indicated that their campaign was triggered by the failed promises of successive Governments.
“Opinions are free and everyone can have one,” she noted and hastened it did not matter where the persons spearheading the campaign may be coming from but the substance of the message they are championing must be the focus.
To her, they do not belong to any political party but being driven by the passion to see Ghana working
This follows allegations ny the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddy Blay, that he suspects the #FixTheCountry campaign is propaganda inspired by the NDC.
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According to a Joy News report, Blay acknowledged the concerns of the campaign as having merit, he maintained his defense of the NPP-led administration in efforts to restore the economic fortunes of the country.
“We shall not ignore what the people are saying but we shall also not dance to NDC propaganda,” he stated.
But Kamal-Muslim when asked about this retorted, “what is actually preventing people from sitting down and taking the time to do a research so that if they want to do their propaganda, they can well inform their people…other than resorting to this Machiavellian tactics of just downplaying and disrespecting people?”
What is there to fix?
Asked what they expect to be fixed as the Government insists they are fixing the country, Kamal-Muslim said “We are not interested in making a list for the government of Ghana.”
“Government always campaign on messages and not sure that if you don’t see anything wrong with the system, you would come and campaign that people should vote for you. You campaigned based on messages and those messages are well written in black and white…The NDC campaigned on messages, the CPP did; everyone did [so] why did Ghanaians vote for you?” she quizzed.
She tasked the Akufo-Addo administration to do a review of their promises and sincerely look out for those that are not fulfilled and tackle them in earnest.
“…Ask yourself and do a review and a retrospection that the reason I was voted for, have I been able to live up to expectations? We are talking about how, overtime, government has disappointed Ghanaians.”
The advocate also noted that if there was nothing to fix, the government would not have called the leadership of the campaign and promise to attend to the challenges pointed out to them in a meeting held with them last week.
“If they don’t know what they have to fix, why did the Finance Minister waste state resources to do a press briefing; live coverage to itemize certain things that they think they have to do?. And they mention water, they mention employment, so they don’t know what to do?” she probed.
Government’s Response
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta held a press briefing on Sunday and reacted to the calls made by the protesters who have tweeted and made about 250,000 posts on Facebook with the hashtag.
He said the Government was dealing with the challenges from roads, infrastructure, water and electricity.
Ofori-Atta said, “I acknowledge that these are challenging times for many of us, and we, like almost all the countries in the world, are living through rough weather. A time that has put a burden on the necessities of lives and livelihoods never like before in recent history. Unfortunately, these external shocks have heightened Ghana’s perennial problems, which we are committed to address.
“In extraordinary times, you should expect exceptional leadership from your Government. I truly believe we cannot ensure exceptional leadership without a collective effort. So, I commend the youth for calling on Government and leaders to be at their best.”
He added,”This shows the patriotism of the Ghanaian youth, echoing the President’s call to Be a Citizen, Not a Spectator. You have elected us to solve the problems that face this country. We will continue to work with you and other stakeholders to do just that.”
Reacting to the Minister’s press briefing, Kamal-Muslim said the Akufo-Addo Government, that gave so much hope to Ghanaians in opposition prior to the 2016 elections, has been giving Ghanaians “empty rhetoric” whenever they are asked to account to the people, adding the presser was not enough.
“We’ve been dealing with rhetoric all this while…The promises have not helped us. We should move beyond rhetoric to action. Government needs to do more of the commitment part than talking,’ she stated. “Its not that what the Finance Minister said is concrete.”
She emphasized that the group exist to create a common platform for Ghanaians to voice out their challenges and get them attended to. She also observed that when they went through the messages the hashtag had produced, they realized that people from different parts of the country had different challenges that needed urgent attention.
Kamal-Muslim went on and suggested that Government officials go through the messages being put out by the protesters, and pledge their commitment to tackling their challenges.
Source: Henryson Okrah || Myxyzonline
