President Buhari reacts to failed coup in Ghana

Three suspects have been arrested by the Ghanaian government over a plan to destabilize the country.

One of the suspects who was detained on Friday September 20, after security agencies monitored their activities for 15 months is said to be a medical doctor at Citadel Hospital which he used as a base to manufacture and store weapons. The small cache of weapons discovered included six pistols, three smoke grenades, two AK47 magazines, 22 IEDs and one long knife.

The arrested suspects identified as Frederick Yao Mac-Palm, Ezor Kafui and Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu were accused of being leaders of Take Action Ghana (TAG) whose aim was to recruit and radicalise a base of young people against the political authorities under the guise of “nation-building”.

"The joint operation was to neutralize an elaborate plot targeted at the presidency, and with the ultimate aim of destabilizing the country," information minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said in a statement.

Reacting to the failed coup, President Buhari stated that  democracy is the only form of government acceptable in Ghana and Africa. The statement released by the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Mallam Garba Shehu reads;

 “Nigeria and Ghana are leading partners in ECOWAS and Transparency International, and Afrobarometer’s Africa Index 2019 attested that both countries have recorded exceptional advances in fighting corruption.
“When you take on powerful and corrupt vested interests successfully, sometimes they seek to push back. As the saying goes, ‘if you fight corruption, corruption will fight back’.
“The only acceptable form of governance in our region in this 21st century is through democratic elections.
“It is the only way to install – and the only way to change – an administration. The days of coups and government without votes are over.
“All Africans hold the nation of Ghana in the highest esteem as the first post-colonial country to gain independence, and the first African country to hold multi-party elections by universal suffrage. Ghana is the first, true African democracy.
“We in Nigeria hold out – as always – our hands in support and friendship to our brothers and sisters in Ghana.”