‘I am very, very frightened’ now - Kwesi Pratt on the possibility of a coup in Ghana

Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr has said that he is very scared about what the current hardships in the country might lead to. According to him, the government is failing to prove that our democracy is working to improve the livelihood of Ghanaians. Pratt Junior, who made these remarks in a Good Morning Ghana interview monitored by GhanaWeb, intimated that the prevailing economic conditions are similar to reasons for coups he had witnessed. “I am very, very frightened. The economic hardship is one thing; everybody is complaining about the hardship. People go to the market (and) prices are escalating; everywhere you go, you are hit with this (hardship), you can't tell what is going to happen tomorrow and so on. That anxiety is there. “But beyond that anxiety, I am very, very deeply frightened about the possible consequences of this development… I’m a little old; I saw 1972, I saw the palace coups in the Acheampong era, I saw 1979, I saw 1981. I saw them; I experienced them. And there are important lessons that hit me in the face,” he said. The veteran journalist added that the government must prove that it is working to resolve the challenges Ghanaians are facing to avert the possibility of any upheaval. “…our focus ought to be, first and foremost, alleviating hardship. That should be an important part of our focus on alleviating hardships. Our next focus beyond alleviating hardship ought to be creating an atmosphere in which everybody feels that they have a contribution to make, they are making that contribution and that the contribution is valued. We need to do that. “The third thing to do is simply to send out a signal that the current democratic order is capable of delivering when it comes to the needs and aspirations of our people. Because this democratic order is useless and meaningless if it does not deliver the needs and aspirations of our people. And we need to do that as quickly as possible,” he noted. He added that, currently, he does not see these objectives being pursued by the government, “and that is where the danger is”. Kwesi Pratt also said that persons responsible for the economic meltdown, which led to the coup he witnessed, escaped unbruised but ordinary Ghanaians had to suffer the brunt of the military overtakes. Watch the interview below: You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: IB/SEA