There’s a Coordinated, Autocratic Abuse of Power Aimed at Silencing Our Voices – Minority Cries Out

Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the government of using State power to intimidate and silence opposition members, describing the alleged conduct as a coordinated abuse of power.

He said the Minority would not be deterred from holding the government accountable despite what he described as intimidation, harassment, arrests and detention of some of its members.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, November 4, Mr Afenyo-Markin insisted that the Minority remained committed to its constitutional responsibility of scrutinising government actions and representing the interests of Ghanaians.

He said the caucus had the backing of a large section of the public, whose expectations strengthened its resolve to demand accountability from the government.

According to him, several Minority MPs had endured difficult circumstances, including arrests and detention, which he believes were intended to weaken their resolve and silence dissenting voices.

“We see in this pattern a coordinated autocratic abuse of power intended to exhaust our resolve and silence our voices,” he said.

His comments followed Tuesday’s removal of the Member of Parliament for Damongo, Samuel Abu Jinapor, from the Chamber by a Parliamentary Marshal after he refused to withdraw an allegation against Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

Mr Afenyo-Markin stressed that the Minority had no objection to lawful accountability, insisting that every citizen, including members of the opposition, must be subject to the law.

However, he warned against the use of State institutions and authority to compel political submission, saying the caucus would not compromise on its responsibility to hold the government accountable.

“What we resist and will never desist from resisting is a conversion of State power into an instrument of political submission that we can never compromise on,” he said.

He reaffirmed the Minority’s determination to continue its work despite the challenges, declaring that the caucus would not be intimidated into abandoning its position.

“We shall not be moved. We shall not be cowed. And we surely shall not be silenced,” he added.