Mahama cannot rule by decree - Asamoah

The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has reminded the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by President John Mahama that “the government of Ghana now cannot rule by decree.”

This was contained in statement issued by the NPP concerning comments made by the ‘caretaker’ Deputy Minister of Interior, Kobby Acheampong who is accused to have threatened that the President could decree a curfew and the leadership of the NPP arbitrarily arrested.

Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Monday, the Deputy Director of Communications for the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoah stated that Ghana is ruled by law and that the President is not a dictator who rules by decree and therefore cannot arrest citizens arbitrarily.

According to him, “it is not acceptable for even as an example to dream of a decree in a constitutional situation that we have.”

Mr. Asamoah clarified that the NPP is focused “on the challenge and the import of our challenge to the authorities of the government is that even though the President has been sworn in and inaugurated, his political legitimacy is inconclusive to the extent that the Supreme Court can still destool him.”

He further mentioned that “no amount of intimidation or threats to impose an illegal curfew, arrest the NPP leadership arbitrarily or crush peaceful demonstrations will stop the resolve of the people of Ghana to reverse the grievous scandal of an election that appears to have corrupted the true will of the citizens of Ghana in the 2012 Presidential election.”

He insisted that Mr. Acheampong’s use of the word ‘decree’ as a means for the President to express his powers as the leader of the country is “simply not an option that is available to a democratic President operating under the rule of law.”

However, in response to the NPP’s position on the matter, Mr. Acheampong expressed his disappointment with the sharp response and condemnation issued by the NPP’s Deputy Communications Director.

“I am very disappointed in Buaben Asamoah but I am not so disappointed because that has been his stock-in-trade clarifying that his comments was a hypothetical situation that I was alluding to so I am very surprised that he has gone round to issue a press statement making all these unfounded allegations that I issued a threat and that the President was going to issue a decree to arrest NPP leaders.”