The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has once again appealed to the Ghana Police Service to ensure a peaceful election in the country.
In a letter signed by the Acting National Chairman, Freddie Blay, the party insists that Ghanaians must be assured of protection especially as days draw near for December 7 polls.
"We are therefore formally appealing to you and your good office, once more, to renew your efforts to enforce the peace, to ensure that all Ghanaians feel free of harassment and intimidation in these final weeks before Election Day on December 7, 2016. All Ghanaians must feel assured of the protection of the Police as they go about their peaceful election activities, whether it is registration to vote, advocating for their candidate on a house-to-house campaign, or going to the polls on December 7th. Acts of violence or intimidation are a threat to the credibility of the Electoral process" the letter stated.
Read full details of the letter below
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
GHANA POLICE SERVICE
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
ACCRA, GHANA
Dear Sir,
IN THE MATTER OF PEACEFUL ELECTION ACTIVITIES BEFORE DURING AND AFTER THE ELECTION AND IN THE MATTER OF PROMPT AND OBJECTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF PEACE AND SECURITY BY THE GHANA POLICE SERVICE
We write this formal letter as a follow up of the NPP delegation’s meeting with your good self as the IGP in the company of Senior Officers on Tuesday October 18, 2016 on the above subject matter.
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 New Patriotic Party all over the country by NDC activists.
As we discussed at length and in details with your good self, the party officers and 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. We are therefore formally appealing to you and your good office, once more, to renew your efforts to enforce the peace, to ensure that all Ghanaians feel free of harassment and intimidation in these final weeks before Election Day on December 7, 2016.
All Ghanaians must feel assured of the protection of the Police as they go about their peaceful election activities, whether it is registration to vote, advocating for their candidate on a house-to-house campaign, or going to the polls on December 7th. Acts of violence or intimidation are a threat to the credibility of the Electoral process.
Listed below in no particular order is evidential antecedence of the aforementioned complaints:
1. On July 6, 2015, during the Talensi by-election, thugs in the employ of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), known as the Azorka Boys, attacked then- National Vice Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay, National Treasurer, Kwabena Abankwa-Yeboah, former Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Rashid Bawa and other NPP officials without provocation. A complaint was lodged at the time at the Bolgatanga Police Station, but there has still not been any response from the Ghana Police Service except that the Upper East Police Command accused the NPP leadership of exaggerating these attacks. All the affected NPP officials received medical treatment for their injuries. Mr Abankwa-Yeboah and Mr. Bawa were the biggest casualties of the NDC attacks. Incidents such as this one erode the party’s confidence in the ability and will of the Ghana Police Service to provide us with EQUAL PROTECTION from intimidation and violence.
2. On May 8th, 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 men in uniform were preparing to carry registration equipment on a vehicle toward a town on the Togo boarder which had not been designated in the original registration movement plan. Mr. Amewu was assaulted for using his android phone to capture pictorial evidence of the scenario. We lodged a complaint at the Regional Police Headquarters in Ho but up till now, the Regional Police Command has not informed us of any results of their investigations.
3. On October 11, 2016, 35 NPP women supporters, known as Loyal Ladies, were brutally assaulted by identified NDC thugs while conducting a house-to-house campaign in Suhum, Eastern Region. The women sought refuge at the Suhum chief’s palace but the thugs chased them there and attacked them along with some chiefs involved in preparations for the town’s Odwira Festival. Although the women reported the incident to local police, no arrests were made.
4. On October 12, 2016, two Deputy NPP National Youth Organizers, Salam Mustapha and Dominic Eduah, were this time assaulted by uniformed police personnel at the CID Headquarters while the NPP Officers had tried to secure bail for the president-elect of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Luqman Abubakar, who himself had sustained beatings by NDC youth supporters prior to his arrest and detention the previous day.
5. Driver of Dr Hannah Bissiw, a Deputy Minister, allegedly caused 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 been released. A complaint was launched and so far there has been no action taken against the people involved in the abduction.
6. In the Asunafo North and South constituencies of the Brong Ahafo Region, Abduallai Mohammed, popularly known as Naabu, 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.
7. According to eye witness reports in Banda, during the limited registration period, a car full of NDC activists and their hired ‘macho men’ went from one registration centre to another visiting mayhem on NPP agents and at times disrupting the registration process. No police action was taken.
8. On the 19th of September 2016, an NPP activist had his finger chopped off in Asunafo South by NDC thugs on the rampage; Police Personnel fled from the scene and have not conducted any police investigations over the matter since.
9. On the 2nd of October 2016, NDC ‘macho men’ attacked NPP supporters who were campaigning peacefully in Enyan Main in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam Constituency of the Central Region. Three people received severe knife wounds. The matter has not been investigated.
10. On 16th September, 2016, machete wielding NDC members inflicted wounds on an NPP activist in Kukuom in the Asunafo South District of the Brong Ahafo Region and nothing has been done about it although a complaint was lodged with the Police.
11. Sir, On Sunday, the 13th of November 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. We have reliably gathered that a number of them threw stones, bottles, and other forms of missiles into the house, across the wall. Paintings, pictures, banners, etc on the wall were vandalized and in some cases removed by these marauding activists.
Although the few personal security personnel at Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo’s gate resisted their attempt to enter into the premises of our Presidential Candidate, this development is alarming and a great cause for concern to us in the NPP. We have reasons to believe that this is not an isolated incident. We believe it is an orchestrated and carefully planned attack either to harm, intimidate or provoke unnecessary tension in the country going into the December elections. The implication of this development is most alarming. The Police, we are informed, took over one hour or two, to even make a belated presence although the Nima Police Station is a two-minute walk from our Flag bearer’s residence.
In the above cited instances, we are asking for your investigations and the necessary and prompt actions taken, according to the law.
In addition to the above-mentioned incidents of violence, we would like to express concern about the Ghana Police Service’s announcement of plans to use new police recruits, who are not yet fully qualified, to monitor polling stations and otherwise maintain law and order during the December 7 elections. 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.
Finally, we remain concerned about the threats made by your office to restrict the use of SOCIAL MEDIA and SMS communications on Election Day. Along with other stakeholders, 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 incidents of violence and intimidation, as well as independent verification of results as tabulated and certified at individual polling stations.
We call on you to demonstrate that you and your men can protect, even handedly, all Ghanaians without prejudice or favouritism. We are convinced the police have a critical role to play in ensuring that intimidation and threats of violence will not mar public confidence in the electoral process. In this critical period, with less than 22 days left until Election Day, the impartial and untainted professionalism of the Ghana Police Service is needed and is more important than ever.
We wish to assure you that, as a party, we want and would like to continue to restrain our people and encourage them to resort to the proper channels in seeking protection but this must be met with the appropriate responses from the Ghana Police Service and such responses must be in good time to avert any overspill of emotions. We believe that justice, is a necessary precursor to peace and that in the interest of peace, the Ghana Police Service must pursue all the reported cases with the aim of bringing justice to our numerous party members who have been brutalized, assaulted and intimidated.
We need not to over emphasize that it is your DUTY to the country to ensure that all the perpetrators are brought to book. We consider it, our responsibility, to put it on record that we have, once more, drawn your attention to the content of this document.
We are, by copies of this document, drawing the attention of the relevant international organizations as well as our development partners to the issues raised.
Thank you.
Best regards,
FREDDIE BLAY
NATIONAL CHAIRMAN (AG.)
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
You are there insulting someone for speaking his mind or opinion......... Did you hear John Boadu today? Exactly what the guy you are insulting was referring to!!!
PLEASE JUST GO AWAY PEACEFULLY BARAWO MAHAMA. GHANA PEOPLE, WE ARE TIRED OF YOU. COMMONSENSE TOO YOU NO GET SOME. YOU SAY SOMETHING BAD. GHANA PEOPLE SAY YOU NO TALK WELL. BUT INSTEAD OF SAYING AM SORRY, YOU SAY OSARFO MARFO TOO TALK SOME. HABA! YOU BE PRESIDENT OR RADIO SERIAL CALLER? JUST GO AWAY!
Evil NDC, may they never know peace in opposition when they finally leave office on Dec 7.
IGP and other govt appointees tend to be accountable to the president rather than the very people they are supposed to serve. That is the problem. For me one word that defines the generality of Ghanaians is HYPOCRISY!!
Neequaye a fo*l will never understand the work of nature. Thankfully,God thought it worthy to create those species so Ghana can move forward since the kind of species in the ndc are so us*less to God I don't even know if satan will accept them. Just be in your ghetto and examine yourself and see if you are among those moving their lives in the right direction. We don't need you aimless person to advise or tell us who the NPP are because we know the are the right people for the country and who cares about people like you who feel e*viness and jealousy should take half of the time God gave a man and the other half to eat and make merry. No plan no nothing. I thank God my mind is different from yours.
I wonder what kind of human breeds or species form the NPP band of chameleon's. Some few days ago, you were all over the place calling this same IGP all sorts of names.....and finally branding him an NDC IGP with an agenda..... Here you are with the so called confused chairman of a party calling on the same man to assure you of what? NPP......you know no shame abi?
So you did not even ask about the findings of the murder of our late MP? What about the one who had his eye destroyed? The assailant of the two must be punished. At least the murdrer of the mp should be jailed for life and other should have a jail term of not less than 100years.
Hope, I couldn't have said better, you said it all. Thumbs up I salute.
No amount of intimidation, scheming and use of brute force will save John Mahama and the NDC from the impending defeat. The hand of God is ahainst them. Ghana will rise again under Akufo Addo.
Now let's run a little exercise & brainstorm. Nkrumah ruled for 15yrs. NPP had 8yrs. NDC have got 27yrs. Both NDC & Nkrumah inherited a very good economy to take of. Compared to d : Highly Indebted & Poor one NPP had to take of. Nkrumah built - Akosombo Dam. NPP - Bui Dam. NDC - Nothing. Nkrumah - Tema motorway. NPP - N1 Highway NDC - Nothing. NPP - 8 interchanges made in good quality NDC - 2 uncompleted china metalic interchanges Nkrumah - 2stadia NPP - 3new & renovated already existing 2. NDC - Just one & d@ was even a gift from d Chinese government. Under both Nkrumah & NPP, Ghana's economy was good enough to have successfully hosted d Africa Cup of Nations. NDC cld only achieve co-hosting rights & capacity with Nigeria. NPP had successfully implemented a lot of social intervention programs. Discovered crude oil & gas in commercial quantities. Putting Ghana on d map as an Oil Producing & Exporting Country. So I beg of u all not to settle for anything less 🙏. To whom much is given, much is expected.