Posted on:
www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw
Owusu
Wednesday,
November 23, 2016
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has written to the Inspector General
of Police (IGP) complaining bitterly about the ‘selective law enforcement’ it
believes is being perpetrated by the Ghana Police Service in the run-up to the
December 7 general elections.
The party catalogued brutalities visited on NPP members by the
ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters across the country and
asked the Police Administration to take swift action to restore the party’s confidence
in the Service.
A strongly-worded letter signed by NPP Acting National Chairman,
Freddie W. Blay to the IGP on Monday, said all that the party is asking for is
“prompt and objective enforcement of peace and security.”
It said the letter was a follow-up to a meeting the party’s leaders
had with the IGP, John Kudalor last month.
Several
Complaints
The NPP told the IGP, “Sir, you would recall that we referred to and
emphasized several complaints of incidents of violence and intimidation
unlawfully perpetuated against officials and members of the NPP all over the
country by NDC activists.
“Our members in the various regions have made several complaints and
appeals over the intimidation and the violence but regrettably, we are yet to
see concrete measures put in place to deal with, address or forestall further
occurrences of such incidents of intimidation or violence.”
He called on the IGP to renew his efforts to enforce peace so that
“all Ghanaians feel free of harassment and intimidation in these final weeks
before Election Day on December 7, 2016.”
Series of
Attacks
Buttressing its point, the NPP said on July 6, 2015, during the
Talensi by-election, NDC thugs called Azorka Boys to attack party officials, including
then National Vice Chairman Freddie Blay, National Treasurer Kwabena
Abankwa-Yeboah, former Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports Rashid Bawa and
other NPP people without provocation; and on May 8, 2016 during the limited
registration exercise in the Volta Region, the NPP Regional Chairman, John
Peter Amewu, was assaulted by men in police uniform at Metsrikasa.
The NPP said on October 11, 2016, about 35 of its women supporters,
known as Loyal Ladies, were brutally assaulted by identified NDC thugs while
conducting a house-to-house campaign at Suhum, Eastern Region, and on October
12, 2016, two Deputy NPP National Youth Organizers - Salam Mustapha and Dominic
Eduah - were assaulted by uniformed police personnel at the CID Headquarters in
Accra when they tried to secure bail for the president-elect of the National
Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Luqman Abubakar.
Brong-Ahafo
Terror
The NPP said a driver of Dr Hannah Bissiw, a Deputy Minister and MP
allegedly supervised the abduction of a team of NPP medical personnel in the
Brong-Ahafo Region who were on a medical outreach programme and took them to Dr
Bissiw’s house where they were manhandled before being released. But in spite
of a complaint the police did nothing about it.
“In the Asunafo North and South Constituencies of the Brong-Ahafo
Region, Abdullai Mohammed, popularly known as Naaba - a brother of the Local
Government Minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda - led ‘macho men’ to beat up NPP
agents who were protesting the registration of minors and foreigners in the
full glare of the police; however, no police action has been taken,” adding, “on
the 19th of September 2016, an NPP activist had his finger chopped
off at Asunafo South by NDC thugs on the rampage; police personnel fled the
scene and have not conducted any police investigations over the matter since
that time.”
Central Region
The NPP also said on October 2, 2016, NDC ‘macho men’ again attacked
NPP supporters who were campaigning peacefully at Enyan Main in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam
Constituency of the Central Region where three people received severe knife
wounds but the matter was not investigated and on 16th September,
2016, machete-wielding NDC members inflicted wounds on an NPP activist at
Kukuom in the Asunafo South District of the Brong-Ahafo Region; and nothing has
been done by the police.
Nana’s House
Attack
The opposition party said on Sunday, November 13, 2016, NDC
activists, numbering over 3,000 who claimed they were going on a health walk at
the Nima Police Station junction, attempted, without any provocation, to force
their way into the residence of the NPP’s flag bearer and ended up throwing
bottles and stones into his compound.
Police Recruits
The party frowned on plans by the police administration to include
recruits who are currently undergoing training for security duties on election
day, saying, “The use of unqualified recruits, and the rapid scaling up of the
recruitment process, raises concerns for us about transparency in how these
individuals were recruited, and their capacity to provide full and equal
protection to all Ghanaians on Election Day.”
Social Media
The NPP also expressed concern about the IGP’s plans to ban the use
of social media on election day, saying, “The NPP believes that the free use of
social media and other forms of communication are critical to providing
transparency and credibility to the election process, by allowing for
independent reporting of incidences of violence and intimidation, as well as
independent verification of results as tabulated and certified at individual
polling stations.”
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