Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, K.T. Hammond, has criticised the Dean of University of Ghana Law School, Prof. Raymond Atuguba, over comments that the country’s worsening economic situation may create a fertile ground for political instability.
Speaking at a public lecture on a review of the 1992 Constitution and its impact on the economy on Monday, Prof. Atuguba noted that Ghana’s current financial state is a threat to its democracy.
He added that studies have confirmed that an ailing economy facilitates all successful coup d’états in the sub-region.
“A big part of why certain coups succeed and others fail is the economy. What is the state of Ghana’s economy today?
“At the level of the most irreducible idiomaticity, Ghana is broke. Your nation is radically broke. So broke, the Speaker of Parliament has publicly warned, gavel in hand, that we may not be able to pay the salaries of public sector workers in the next three months,” the academic said.
But the Adansi Asokwa MP is outraged by Prof. Atuguba’s comment.
In an interview with JoyNews’ Kwesi Parker-Wilson, Mr Hammond contended that as a Professor of Law, Atuguba ought not to have made such a comment.
Although he agreed the latter’s comment was conditional, he said the Law lecturer should not have made such a statement.
“The others could be pardoned for their ignorance of the law and ignorance of every other thing that you can think about. Atuguba doesn’t have that privilege…I am saying that he’s taken leave of his senses. He doesn’t have that privilege. Professor of law, he must know what is there in the Constitution.
“We don’t intend to do anything he is suggesting, if we don’t do the way is paved for the military to take over. Is that what he is suggesting?” he noted.
According to the Adansi Asokwa MP, such comments by Prof. Atuguba are treasonable and he is surprised that the Police have not invited him for questioning.
“I am surprised by now they [Police] have not called him. Certainly, they should invite him. At his level, he has no reason, no excuse to make that kind of statement,” he stated.
