A leading member of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), Kwesi Pratt Junior has advised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) not to rely on other groups to organize demonstrations against the Mahama government on their behalf.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that all that is needed to organize a successful demonstration is \u201ca brain to articulate your concerns\u2026 and the physical strength to be able to walk the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”IMc2zofLJOndOHTDoTBbZOI1HZS8jriL”]Kwesi Pratt Junior was certain that every NPP member including \u201cthe grandfathers in their midst can walk the streets and protest, they can carry placards.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CJA over the week discounted claims by the NPP that it had become a dormant pressure group<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government took office in 2009.<\/p>\n Speaking on Radio Gold on Saturday, Kwesi Pratt Junior questioned why the NPP is relying on the CJA to demonstrate against fuel prices on their behalf.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat prevents them from demonstrating? Why should it always be the CJA which is demonstrating for them?\u201d he queried.<\/p>\n He argued that the NPP is unable to demonstrate against high fuel prices because it lacks the credibility to do so.<\/p>\n \u201cThe NPP since it came into opposition has tried several demonstrations\u2026all of us know the turnout of those demonstrations; all of us know the impact that those demonstrations have made,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n “The people of Ghana know that as far as petroleum pricing is concerned, and exposure to hardship is concerned, they don\u2019t have any credibility. If they had credibility, they will be able to organize the kinds of demonstrations we organized against them.\u201d<\/p>\n He recalled that the Kufuor administration failed to reduce petroleum prices when the price of crude on the world market dropped in 2001.<\/p>\n According to him, the then Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo Marfo justified the decision of the government with the explanation that the NPP needed that money to repay the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt and at the time despite the introduction of the TOR debt recovery levy.<\/p>\n He asked: \u201cAt that time, where was Kyei Mensah Bonsu, where was Mahamudu Bawumia, at that time, where was all these NPP elements who are today beating our ear drums with calls for the reduction of ex-pump prices?\u201d<\/p>\n Pratt Junior stressed that the \u201cNPP did worse than what is happening today\u2026 There is a huge demonstration of hypocrisy and double standards.\u201d<\/p>\n He warned the NPP to desist from dragging the CJA into their political activities in a bid to maximize their political interests.<\/p>\n He served notice that the CJA will under no circumstance demonstrate on behalf of the NPP because \u201cwe are not fools and we are not crazy. They should not draw us into their partisan game of misusing everything and anything for maximizing their political interests.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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