NPP MP strangely reads coup meanings into Mahama's plea to military

New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Tolon Constituency, Habid Iddrisu has accused former President John Dramani Mahama of seeking to plant the idea of a government overthrow in the minds of the Ghana Armed Forces. According to the MP who doubles as the deputy majority chief whip in parliament, Mr Mahama rather sought to stoke the idea of coup d’etat when he reiterated a call by President Akufo-Addo that the Armed Forces should remain loyal to the constitution amidst the current economic hardship in the country. “Mr sister talked about a call made by President John Mahama that the military should remain in the barracks. That is a very dangerous call to be made by a former president,” he stated. Appearing as a guest on the Saturday, October 29, 2022, edition of Joynewsfile, Mr Iddrisu argued that while President Akufo-Addo in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the armed forces was justified in making the call, the same cannot be said for the former president. “I am talking about John Mahama’s own. President (Akufo-Addo) is the commander in chief; if I am the commander in chief he is more or less giving you an instruction. So if you are not a commander in chief and you are also saying something you are triggering something else,” he said. “I say so because you are triggering and planting other thinking in people’s minds. That stay in the barracks in the times that we are in, you are planting the notion of coup in them,” he added. President Akufo-Addo in a recent engagement with some high-ranking military officials urged the Armed Forces to remain loyal to the 1992 Constitution as his government works around the clock to fix current economic hardship. “I want to encourage you to continue the good work that you’re doing for our country. I encourage you to stand firm in your loyalty to the Republic, your loyalty to the Constitution of our nation so that the orderly, peaceful development of our country which is the only way that can guarantee the future prosperity we are all working for can come about…. So that these [present] generations of Ghanaians will leave as our legacy, that even when things were difficult in Ghana, we all held together under our Republican institutions and our constitution to find a way to a better future for our nation. I am confident that we can do it and I am counting on you to help me do it,” the president said during the meeting with the officials at the Idris Barracks in the Ashanti Region. In the same vein, former President Mahama while delivering an address on the state of the economy last week, reiterated President Akufo-Addo’s call. Addressing a public lecture themed, 'Building the Ghana We Want,' on October 27, 2022, in Accra, Mahama admonished especially the Armed Forces and other security services against unconstitutional takeovers. "... let me state that I agree with the President and wish to add my voice to his call on our Armed Forces and security services to remain loyal to the State and the Constitution. "The current economic circumstances though dire, do not give [an] excuse for any acts that are unconstitutional. Working together as one people and using the levers of the constitution, we can turn this situation around," he submitted to loud applause from the audience at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, UPSA; auditorium. As part of his presentation, the 2020 flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, outlined a number of short, medium and long-term solutions to the current economic crisis that the government was grappling with. Watch some GhanaWeb TV programmes below: GA/KPE