– Prof. Kwesi Aning
Security consultant, Professor Kwesi Aning, has described the past eight years under the Akufo-Addo administration, as a “hellish” period marked by intimidation and threats, aimed at suppressing his professional work.
Professor Aning, revealed that these threats significantly impacted his ability to express his security analysis freely.
It comes days after the now Majority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, accused Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, of leading a campaign of ‘malicious prosecution’ aimed at damaging his reputation and undermining his influence as a prominent opposition figure.
Professor Aning, shared that the intimidation tactics included threats to his livelihood and attempts to discredit him.
“Earlier on, I could speak and write, and I went to bed in peace,” Professor Aning stated.
“You know, nobody threatened to cut my salary, nobody threatened to call my former bosses to dismiss me. The last eight years, have been hell for me, just for doing what I’ve been trained with the Ghanaian taxpayers’ money to do”, said on Starr FM in Accra.
Professor Aning, expressed hope that the new administration will create a more conducive environment where he can freely share his expertise and contribute to national security without fear of reprisal.
He emphasized that, his primary expectation is to be able to conduct his work without facing constant threats and intimidation.
This is not the first time Professor Aning has publicly spoken about the threats he has faced.
In 2018, he disclosed receiving threatening messages related to his media commentary on security issues.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday, January 6, ahead of the dissolution of the 8th Parliament, Dr Forson, claimed that he became a target of the 8th Parliament under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime due to his concerns about mismanagement by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government.
He stated that his recent prosecution was a calculated attempt to intimidate and silence him.
Ato Forson, highlighted that his prosecution began after the rejection of the e-levy and 2022 budget and that he was charged on Christmas Eve.
He alleged that the Attorney General used crude tactics to achieve ‘malicious prosecution’ and satisfy the regime.
He said, “My recent prosecution, or call it persecution, by the Attorney General over frivolous and trumped-up charges was calculated to intimidate and silence and completely extinguish a known dissenting voice, and my crime was that I sounded alarm bells on an economy that was being mismanaged and ruined by a select few in government.”
“The fact that my prosecution began in the wake of the tussle over e-levy should not be lost on anyone that I became an instant target of the regime.”
“I was charged on the Christmas Eve, a few days after the rejection of the e-levy and 2022 budget. From that point, the Attorney General and the minister responsible for justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame in whom prosecutorial powers of the state is vested, was determined to implore all crude tactics to achieve his ends of malicious prosecution just to satisfy the regime.”
