Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako has said ongoing discussions on the eviction of traders around President Akufo Addo’s Nima residence have largely been driven by emotions but not based on intellect.
According to him, that is not doing justice to an all important matter such as the security of the President.
There have been calls from a section of the public for President Akufo Addo to go and reside in the Flagstaff House following news of the eviction of traders and squatters operating around his private residence by the National Security that says their existence there pose a major security threat to the President.
According to Minister of State in Charge of National Security Bryan Acheampong the proximity of the traders to the President’s residence makes it difficult for the national security to allow them to continue to operate from the area.
Traders around the President’s Nima residence have been asked to vacate the premises by Thursday, March 15. The affected traders have been compensated with amounts ranging from 3,000 -10, 000 Ghana cedis.
Some of the traders have complained that the amounts offered them are meagre and may make their lives worse off if they vacate the premises. A statement from the Information Ministry on Sunday stated that the president is compensating the traders from his own resources and not using state funds.
The statement added that the traders had been given enough time to prepare and vacate the premises and not just a week as claimed by the traders.
Commenting on the subject on Peace FM Wednesday, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako urged discussants to stop being sentimental by basing their pronouncement on emotions and feelings as opposed to reason.
“This discussion ought to be focused, ought to be informed, it ought to be devoid of sentimentalism. I hear people talking, I hear them…then I say absolutely incredible, it’s emotions, emotions and emotions without the benefit of intellect. When it comes to serious politics, sentiments is not substitute for science. The science here is that the National Security Apparatus will take its time and assess the place, even the mere fact that the man has become President itself triggers a new security dynamic in that environment. But beyond the fact that his status should trigger a new security dynamic, consistently, National Security does evaluation of the environment and the situation not just in that corner but also within the nation.”
“Recently some people were caught with grenades here in Accra, that is a new level of threat if you’re anticipating right and doing your intelligence estimation. These things (explosives) they were captured with are mobile, they can be anywhere throw it anywhere, they could even be suicide elements. National Security has done all these assessment and evaluation and have come to the conclusion that let’s upgrade the security around the President’s house, and people say he should go and stay at Flagstaff House. I’m saying he stays there partially, but he cannot be barricaded there, no one can also decree the President’s frequency or regularity to his private house in a legislative form.”