The Member of Parliament for Assin South constituency, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has accused the Mahama administration of increasing intolerance towards dissenting voices.
He contrasted this with the eight-year tenure of former President Akufo-Addo, during which he claimed no opposition Member of Parliament was harassed by state security agencies for carrying out their parliamentary oversight duties or demanding investigations.
This follows an incident on Wednesday, April 9, where officials from the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) attempted to arrest Rev. Fordjour over comments he made regarding an aircraft, allegedly carrying drugs.
According to government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the standoff occurred because the MP refused to cooperate despite the officers possessing an arrest warrant.
He stated that the officials had given Rev. Fordjour time to comply before taking further action.
Rev. Fordjour in an X post on Thursday, April 10, noted that former President Nana Akufo-Addo had called to check on him and his family following what he described as a needless invasion of his home by men purportedly sent by the government. He emphasized how Akufo-Addo’s leadership had exemplified tolerance, accommodating opposition demands for investigations without resorting to intimidation.
He criticized President Mahama’s response to the Minority’s press statement calling for probes into key national issues, describing it as unprecedented intolerance and a setback to Ghana’s democratic progress.
He added that the current situation surpasses the so-called “culture of silence” and reaffirmed his belief that truth will always prevail.
READ FULL STATEMENT
Yesterday, as the former President of the Republic HE Nana Akufo-Addo @NAkufoAddo placed a call to me and conveyed his kind thoughts to me and my family, following the needless invasion of our home without a warrant by men purportedly sent by the government for raising matters of serious concerns worth probing on behalf of the Minority Caucus, I came to appreciate the more, how tolerance shapes our democracy.
In the eight years extraordinary leadership of President Akufo-Addo, no opposition MP was harassed by the state security apparatus for demanding probes in the discharge of their parliamentary oversight. Every fierce criticism and demand for probe by the opposition MPs were graciously accommodated by President Akufo-Addo without threats and harassments.
The level of intolerance demonstrated by President Mahama in his reaction to a press statement of the Minority Cause simply demanding probes into various matters of urgent and serious public interest, is unprecedented and a major setback in our democratic pursuit.
This is indeed beyond the culture of silence. Truth will stand always!
