Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Saturday, November 28, 2015
The opposition New Patriotic
Party (NPP) says the raid at its national headquarters at Asylum Down and its office
annex at Kokomlemle, all in Accra, was the handiwork of the National Security.
“After a careful review of
the invasion, evidence and subsequent events to date, the NPP is in no
doubt that the attack on our offices was conducted by the State, specifically,
using certain rogue elements within the National Security set-up, in full collaboration
with some identifiable individuals now bent on destroying the fortunes of the
NPP,” the party’s Acting National Chairman, Freddie W. Blay, said.
At a news conference in Accra
yesterday, the party’s bigwigs including the vice presidential candidate, Dr
Mahamudu Bawumia, and MPs turned up to lend their support.
Ahead of the news conference,
the party asked all its members to be in red or black attire in protest against
the raid.
Calculated Plan
The Acting Chairman said that the
Mahama-led NDC administration had put aside a huge budget plus a crack team
aided by elements in the National Security “to make the job of attempting to
damage the NPP a top priority.”
He averred, “To the ruling NDC,
creating confusion in the NPP is a more competent and convenient way to gain
electoral advantage than fixing the myriad problems they have visited on the
country. We are aware of the tens of
millions of Ghana Cedis in slush funds dedicated to this special project.
And
we also know of the individuals, including two heads of important organisations,
whose job it is to fund and fuel this evil plot.”
Political Points
Mr Blay said, “Our findings so
far suggest that what happened on Monday was a wickedly orchestrated attempt to
turn this head office into a bloodbath and with one aim only: to score a
political point against the country’s largest opposition party as we draw ever
closer to the next general elections.”
He said intelligence the party
picked up and the manner in which the raids occurred and the response by the
security agencies “all point to one direction: that the raids, although unofficial,
were done on the orders of highly placed people within the National Security
setup.”
The Acting National Chairman
said that the party’s preliminary investigation revealed that police patrol
vehicle, specifically a blue Nissan Navara Pick-up, manned by men in police
uniform, drove to the NPP head office around 1:00 am and “a man in police
uniform caused for the gate to be opened.”
He also underscored, “Two
military vehicles carrying men in uniform came to the Party head office and the
15 men who led the raid wore uniforms issued by the army. They carried weapons
issued to authorised officers.”
Mr Blay continued, “The police
have so far not given any useful information about the weapons in the sack. No
action was taken against the trespassers who took unlawful custody of our head
office annex. Confidential information on the voters’ register and related
items on electoral affairs were targeted and taken away.
Pertinent Questions
“Why was the office of the Director of Electoral Affairs the one singled
out for theft of confidential documents, both in electronic and paper formats? Which
group stands to benefit from getting its hands on vital, confidential
information about our election plans including documents on the current issue
of a new voter register?” the acting chairman asked.
He also queried, “Who authorised the use of military vehicles for that
dawn operation? Who authorised the use of the police patrol vehicle? Which police
officers were in the patrol vehicle?”
He said that the first set of police deployed to the NPP head office appeared
to be only interested in the weapons in the sack and arresting our security
guard, but not the raiders. He asked, “Why did the police not arrest the men in
military uniform?”
Unofficial Army/Police
“Is it because the police were satisfied with the identity of the
purported military officers who handed over the sack of weapons to them? Is
there an official army and an ‘unofficial’ army within the Armed Forces in
Ghana? Is there an official Police Service and an ‘unofficial’ Police Service?”
The party wanted to know if the police had been able to trace the source
of the weapons in the sack, asking, “What are the names, units and identities
of the men in uniform? Have any of the men in uniform been arrested?”
The party’s acting chairman wondered, “How come the results of the
so-called search conducted by the police-cum-military have not been released to
the leadership of the NPP so far? Why were the trespassers arrested at our
Kokomlemle office immediately released and not taken into custody for
interrogation? Who gave the order to release them?”
A certain Inspector Odoom, who led the police team to the NPP former
head office, now serving as the Greater Accra Regional Office, arrested some of
the red-shirted hoodlums and later freed them after seeking authorisation from
an unknown superior.
Mr Blay said the NPP had
suffered similar police raids in the past but in this instance, “it appears
those who raided did not want to take chances so they brought their own weapons
to be found by themselves.”
Designed Bloodbath
He revealed that the raid by the
men in military uniform “was apparently to clear the two party offices for the
men in red T-shirts to ostensibly take over,” adding, “Their presence at the
two party offices was designed to provoke the Invisible Forces to storm the two
places with reinforcement in an anticipated move to take back ‘control’ of the Party
buildings.
“This could then trigger
violence, turning the head office of the largest opposition party in Ghana into
a scene of nasty, ugly bloodbath. This is how far some are prepared to go for
the sake of scoring a political point against the NPP.”
He said the party remains united
and would never fall for such machinations.
Govt Hits Back
The government has reacted to
the NPP statement, describing the allegation as “deliberate fabrication.”
A statement issued and signed by
the Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, claimed “Government
is constrained to correct a wicked and malicious falsehood peddled by the New
Patriotic Party to the effect that Government, acting through the military and police,
invaded the party’s headquarters in Accra in the early hours of Monday, 23rd
November, 2015.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Government wishes
to place on record that this claim is a deliberate fabrication by the New
Patriotic Party calculated at shifting blame for the horrendous leadership it
has had leading to its rapid descent into chaos, violence, lawlessness, brutal killings
and total confusion over the last year or so.”
The statement continued, “Government
notes that the police have been investigating the matter under reference with a
view to bringing the culprits to book. We call on the NPP to cooperate with the
police in this regard and desist from the ridiculous gambit of blaming others
for their woes.”
Police Reaction
The Police Administration has also
reacted to the NPP news conference saying they are concerned about “efforts to
entangle the Service with the recent unfortunate incident at the NPP headquarters,
even though there is absolutely no cause to do that.”
A statement signed by the Director-General/Public
Affairs, DCOP Rev David Nenyi Ampah-Bennin, denied categorically that it had a
hand in the raid, saying that its mandate did not include “such nefarious
activities.”
