Professor Kwesi Aning, the Director of Research at KAIPTC
• Professor Kwesi Aning has cautioned government to address concerns of the youth
• He said the youth are fed up with how the country is being governed
• He was reacting to the shooting incident at Ejura
Professor Kwesi Aning, the Director of Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre has offered that the disturbances in Ejura on Tuesday, June 30, 2021, is a reflection of the frustrations among the youth in the country.
He is cautioning that the government not to treat it as an isolated case but see it as a manifestation of the rage occupying the country’s youth.
He said in a JoyNews interview that the youth are frustrated with current happenings in the country and if measures are not taken to address their issues, things could explode.
Professor Aning noted that Ghanaian youth have been pushed to the level where they can no longer stomach issues and are looking for an avenue to vent their rage.
“Ejura is only a symbolic representation of the frustrations across this country. Quite a number of our own leaders have spoken about youth frustration, unemployment, as a toxic mix. Ejura has demonstrated that we’ve now moved from the rhetoric of seeming to be concerned…”
“When the State and its representatives over time, signal to people, that they don’t matter, it contributes to building frustrations,” he said.
Professor Aning was speaking in relation to the protest in Ejura that was triggered by the death of social activist Ibrahim Mohammed.
Youth of the town who were protesting the death of their colleague were shot into by security forces.
Professor noted that the killing of the two was avoidable and that security ought to be enhanced in the town to avoid an extension of the disturbances.
“We need to say, ‘look, how do we improve our policing so that it doesn’t tip over these aspects of people’s frustrations,” he said.