The United States Branch of the New Patriotic Party strongly condemns the barbaric assault on NPP Parliamentary candidate Ms Ursula Owusu when she toured registration centers in the Greater Accra Region. The incident, as well as several other pockets of violence perpetrated on members of the opposition NPP by NDC hoodlums, represents a regrettable plunge into chaos that Ghana is now experiencing under President Mills.
NPP-USA calls on the world bodies to weigh in on the unfortunate developments of monopolistic violence on NPP members by the ruling NDC government. While the government may not be expressly ordering these barbaric actions by NDC hoodlums, reactions by government officials and other high-ranking officials of the NDC party constitute virtual approval of such acts.
For example, Deputy Interior Minister Kobby Acheampong who assists the sector minister in supervising the police and is thus responsible for peace and security in the country said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) aspiring candidate for Ablekuma South, Ursula Owusu is to blame for the assault she suffered during the biometric registration exercise in the Odododiodio constituency last week. In a clear rebuke of the provisions of Ghana’s constitution that grants citizens freedom of movement, the notorious deputy minister said the NPP aspirant had no business being in the constituency at the time and only suffered the assault because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. As if Ghana is now living under an Apartheid system where the poor NPP folks are banned from the rich NDC.”
For his part, President Mills, supposedly the most powerful man in Ghana hypocritically appealed for peace instead of reining in his hoodlums. It is noteworthy that the term machomen only surfaces when the NDC is in power. In a country where the responsibility of maintaining law and order rests on the police, Ghana’s peace and security now appears to be in the hands of partisan machomen who terrorize law-abiding citizens with impunity.
NPP-USA reminds President Mills and all Ghanaians that civil conflicts that have destroyed otherwise thriving nations all began with unrestrained violence from one party or group, and Ghana is not immune to such development. Giving that this series of violence may be a sign of what is in store for December 7, the NPP would be foolhardy not to plan for self-defense since the police have been largely ineffective in protecting all citizens.
It is a woeful abdication of responsibility for the police to effect immediate arrests of NPP members for merely exercising their freedom of speech, but in matters of violence by NDC hoodlums, the police reaction has always been “investigations” that lead nowhere. If Ghana goes up in flames because citizens feel compelled to defend themselves, President Mills and the police would be responsible. They would have had plenty of opportunities to avert.
President Mills’ “ I am not a Policeman” declaration is a serious indictment of his oath of office and knowledge of his role as commander-in-chief who exercises supreme command authority of the security services. A commander-in-chief is not necessarily a commissioned officer but is constitutionally charged with the responsibility of making strategic decisions and order security personnel into action with regards to national security. President Mills must be aware that in linewith the doctrine of command responsibility, he as a commander in chief, He would be held criminally liable if he does not take action when aware of human rights violations by his subordinates. Evidently, President Mills by his lackadaisical response is condoning NDC’s violence simply for parochial political gains at the expense of Ghana’s security.
Public Relations Committee, NPP-USA.
Source: GhanaWeb
