Renowned Broadcast Journalist Paul Adom-Otchere has raised concerns about the silence of political leaders and the government on critical issues such as the highly debated anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
According to him, many politicians who campaigned against certain issues appear to have gone silent since gaining power.
Speaking on Good Morning Ghana on September 19, he said this can affect the trust in Ghana’s democracy.
“The conversation is, if you said this is opposition and now you are in Government, how come we are having this outcome,” he said.
Mr. Adom-Otchere also noted that the government included the fight in galamsey in its 120-day target yet refuses to declare the menace as a state of emergency.
“If you look at the 120 days ambition that the government set for itself you will find it there ‘stop all illegal mining’.”
He added that many ministers who were advocating against galamsey have now fallen silent.
“The ministers were here on ground, here on good morning Ghana, if this table can talk it can tell you how many bottles have been put here of dirty water,” he noted.
Paul Adom-Otchere them emphasized the passing of the Anti-LGBTQ bill which has been of interest to many Ghanaians.
He questioned, “LGBT matter for instance, why has it gone quiet?”
“Speaker of Parliament said over his dead body, President Mahama said we will pass it, but LGBT matter nobody talks about it anymore. Sam George, the avatar of the LGBT lobby doesn’t even talk about it anymore,” he went on.
He explained that this may cause citizens to feel misled by the politicians who campaigned on these issues.
“These are the issues that people are looking at and wondering that ‘did we just follow these people, did they take us for fools?’ ”
The broadcast journalist noted that this goes beyond the New Democratic Congress (NDC) and affects democracy.
“It’s not about the NDC government it’s about sustaining democracy,” he said.
Further explaining, “If the political class does not afford themselves credibility, so that the people can have hope in the political class then we are running a democracy that’s on one leg”
“They’re not hurting themselves, they’re not hurting the government but they are hurting the political class and ultimately undermining the trust in democracy,” stressed Paul Adom-Otchere.
