Power will be Handed over to any Duly Elected President – Defence Minister Declares

Minister of Defence, Mr. Dominic Nitiwul, says the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will hand over power to a duly elected President on 7th January 2025.

“Let me state to you that this President will hand over to the duly elected President of Ghana on the 7th of January, 2025. That is the assurance, we in the security sector on behalf of the Government, will give you. That is the assurance.

A duly elected President would be chosen by the good people of Ghana, and nobody will interfere in the affairs of the people of Ghana, not from the Military, not from the Police, not from any politician,” Mr. Nitiwul reiterated.

The Minister of Defence said this on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, at a press conference in Parliament House in reaction to an earlier press conference held by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority Caucus on the current state of insecurity in Ghana in the wake of the economic meltdown.

During the Minority Press Conference, the Ranking Member for the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, Mr. James Agalga, who addressed the media, noted that their attention had been drawn to an exposé by Mr. Kelvin Taylor, a Ghanaian journalist based in the United States, which suggested the recruitment and training of mercenaries by the Government operatives based at the Jubilee House to cause chaos and mayhem in the country and blame the political opposition.

The Minority Caucus, therefore, urged bilateral partners, the ECOWAS Secretariat, the African Union, the clergy, and the National Peace Council to speak out in defence of the sustenance of Ghana’s democracy before it was too late.

However, the Defence Minister, in his reaction, denied any knowledge that such a thing had taken place and that the Government had not brought anybody into the Jubilee House, who was not a soldier, who was not a Police, or who was not involved in national security.

“We’ve not done such a thing since we came into power and we don’t intend to do it. No evidence of that nature,” he stated.

The Defence Minister, therefore, urged Ghanaians to dismiss Mr. Taylor’s allegations, declaring that Mr. Taylor was engaging in “yellow journalism” and should, therefore, not be taken seriously.

Mr. Nitiwul noted that Mr. Taylor’s allegations were without substance.

He is, therefore, urging political parties to go out there and campaign and win the hearts and souls of the people of Ghana, saying “that is my advice to them”.

“Let me reiterate that the people of Ghana will line up on the 7th of December 2024 and cast their votes, whoever emerges as President will be sworn in on the 7th of January, 2025,” Mr. Nitiwul added.

By Franklyn Asare Donkor