Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
OccupyGhana (OG), a fast-growing pressure group has condemned the killing
of Upper East Regional Chairman of the
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Alhaji Adams Mahama and has added its voice to the
numerous calls to fish out the killers and punish them.
On Wednesday, May 20, Ghanaians were hit with the shocking
news of the pouring of acid on the dynamic NPP regional chairman in Bolgatanga
leading to his death a few hours later on Thursday.
Two people who are suspected to have been involved in the
pouring of the acid have been identified and one is currently detained by the
police.
Countless institutions and powerful individuals as well as
security experts have all condemned the ‘dastardly act’ and asked the law
enforcement agencies to conduct thorough investigations and bring the
perpetrators to book without fear or favour.
OccupyGhana said in a statement yesterday that “no person deserves to die in the manner Mr.
Adams Mahama did and no person has the right to take another's life in the
circumstances Mr. Adams Mahama's life was taken.”
“For the rest of us,
the death of Mr. Adams Mahama if indeed truly occurred because of political
instigation, should not be seen as just another ‘partisan’ occurrence but rather
a signal that our politics is at the cusp of a trajectory of self-destruction.
It is a criminal act that should be abhorred without reservation.”
Fault lines
According to the pressure
group the origin of the fault line of physical violence in Ghana's politics,
could be traced to British colonialist policies and practices, under which
those who demanded independence were hounded, imprisoned and sometimes,
killed.”
“Unfortunately, with
the advent of independence a more vicious form of political violence was to be
introduced: the phenomenon of ‘machoism,’ feeding on the unfortunate mentality
that the only way to handle political differences is to visit physical violence
on one's opponents.”
“It is unfortunate
that nearly six decades after independence, we are yet to fully rid our
politics of machoism. Political parties have nurtured and fed this 'beast' and
given it room to transmogrify and mutate into a clear and present national
danger, the latest form of which is the unjustified attack that has resulted in
the assassination of Mr. Adams Mahama.”
Indiscipline and machoism
They said
indiscipline and machoism has increasingly taken “the spearhead of political
activism in the country” adding “our airwaves and newspapers are replete with
vitriolic language and unacceptably unpalatable reportage.”
“People in office who
are paid by tax payers money find nothing wrong with engaging in mudslinging
and very often rather insulting diatribes,” they added.
The group said the
situation had affected social cohesion and reinforced what it called “the fast
increasing view that public office is being reduced to the preserve of
incivilities; all in the name of what may seem as irrational partisan
endorsements.”
“Occupy Ghana is
fully convinced that our political parties, their members and followers have no
justification nor is there the need to continue along a path of violence.”
Volunteer information
Occupy Ghana called
on all persons who may have any knowledge of the circumstances surrounding and
leading to the killing, to step forward and pass on any such information to the
appropriate authorities.
“In urging calm, we
also wish to express our firm belief and conviction that the Ghana Police
Service is doing everything possible to bring the perpetrators of that
dastardly act to justice, to vindicate the nation and get justice for Mr. Adams
Mahama. We support the relevant authorities in their quest to identify all
persons who are complicit in this crime and to bring them to book.”
Call to order
Occupy Ghana asked
the leadership, members and supporters of all political parties, to work hard
to eliminate and eschew all forms of violence and indiscipline in their intra-
and inter-party engagements.
“Politics is nothing
more than a contest of ideas and tolerance of divergent views in spite of vigorous
contests for control and leadership at various levels,” they said adding,” Occupy
Ghana commits to engaging with and working with the leadership of all political
parties and groupings to develop and sustain workable programs aimed at stamping
out violence in the activities of all such groups.”
No comments:
Post a Comment