IGP John Kudalor
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.”
By William Yaw Owusu