A one-time presidential aspirant of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng says the party has lost its morals in governance.
The immediate past Environment Minister insists the party which promoted and exhibited inclusivity in government has now deviated from the same.
According to him, the current NPP is now serving Ghanaians with a government of family, friends and praise singers.
The celebrated heart surgeon in an opinion piece titled 'NPP, how did we get here?' wrote "There are people who claim to be stalwarts of the party; they have neither political appointments nor positions in the party structure. They appear to wield so much power that one of them is described as 'de facto Prime Minister' of the country. Apparently, they have what it takes to get their friends and favourites appointed to prominent and powerful positions in society."
"At the same time, they have the tendency to disrespect and make life difficult for Ghanaians. This is unlike the NPP we know."
"We are being served with a variation of "family, friends, and concubines government", and control of the press not through violence but through bribery and intimidation. We are witnessing the weaponisation of state institutions to silence transformative voices while allowing patronised corruption to flourish. Instead of development in freedom, we are witnessing unprecedented intimidation, economic retrogression, and suffering in silence," he said.
Also touching on the invasion of the UTV on Saturday, the former minister said the party was now promoting and condoning impunity.
An act he insisted was not part of the avowed characteristics of the party.
"I am puzzled that, a tradition that has long been associated with believing in the exchange of ideas, and respect for the rule of law will have its members attack a media house. Perhaps, these thugs have taken a cue from how the government and the party have allowed impunity to fester and grow in the NPP," he said.
"If I recall, no one was allowed to be punished when similar groups went to the seat of government in the Ashanti Region to attack the then-national security coordinator."
"Again, no one was made to face the law, when these brutes attacked a court in Kumasi making the lady judge who was sitting on that case run for her life in the full glare of the public," Professor Frimpong-Boateng said. --Myjoyonline.com