Even Mills won’t accept this – Ayariga to Anyidoho over coup comment

• Posted on March 28, 2018
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Bawku Central Member of Parliament (MP), Mahama Ayariga has broken ranks with his party to condemn “reckless” comments made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Deputy General Secretary.

The opposition lawmaker said there can be no justification for the comment made by Koku Anyidoho despite the defense mounted by senior officials of his party.

“We must always put country above politics; even Prof. Atta Mills under whom Koku Anyidoho and I served, will definitely not encourage these comments,” Mr Ayariga told Daniel Dadzie, host of Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Wednesday.

Mr Anyidoho has been in the custody of the police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) after his arrest on Tuesday following a comment he made on an Accra-based Happy FM.

The embattled NDC Deputy General Secretary had threatened there will be a “civil revolt” over the Ghana-US Defence Cooperation Agreement ratified by Parliament last Friday.

“On January 13, 1972, a certain Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a movement that removed the Progress Party from power. Busia was the Prime Minister and Akufo-Addo’s father was a ceremonial president. Somebody should tell Nana Akufo-Addo that history has a very interesting way of repeating itself. There’ll be a civil revolt,” Mr Anyidoho said.

The NDC Deputy General Secretary has since been charged with “treason.”

Leading members of the NDC have condemned the manner the arrest was effected, saying it is disproportionate to the comment Mr Anyidoho made.

But Mahama Ayariga, an appointee under the ex-president John Mahama’s regime, has lauded the measures taken by the police over Mr Anyidoho’s comment.

“We should not entertain calls for the standards to be lowered when politicians are talking; in fact, the standards should be higher when politicians are engaged in discussions of this country,” he cautioned.

But the Bawku Central MP has asked the police CID to “exercise some restraints [and] grant him [Mr Anyidoho] bail” because “whatever they [CID] want to send they have done so.”

“We will appeal to them to grant him bail so we can continue the legal process,” he pleaded.

-Myjoyonline