Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Senior Minister
Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo has condemned former President John Mahama for recently summoning members of the diplomatic community in Ghana and showing to them video footages and photos of the physical assault that took place during the recent by-election in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency.
According to the Senior Minister, former President Mahama stooped low by posting negative images of the country to the outside world.
“This is unpatriotic and shameful…If he gathered Ghanaians, call it the academia or Ghanaian professionals or Ghanaian businessmen and he talked about matters of concern to him, I’ll have no problem. “He’s a former head of state and for a very important opinion leader to gather foreigners and try to paint Ghana black is just not acceptable.”
“What is he really after? What does former President Mahama want to portray? Why does he want to paint Ghana black when, indeed, there is nothing to paint black?” he asked rhetorically.
“There was some violence. It didn’t happen in a polling station. It happened, as it were, in the parliamentary candidate’s house away from any polling station, and we’re yet to know who even shot. Why would you want this to look like a national disaster? “This is really nothing. It’s not good and I will never support any such thing, but if you look at what has happened in previous by-elections in this country; this is nothing more than what had happened earlier,” he added.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo also condemned the former president for stating that the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which he is seeking to lead in the 2020 elections, would meet the NPP “boot for boot.”
He warned Ghanaians not to allow statements from violent politicians to instigate them to disturb the peace the country is enjoying.
The former president on Wednesday received a delegation of diplomats and showed them photos and video footages of the violence that characterised the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election at La Bawaleshie, a suburb of Accra.
Some notable members of the NDC were in attendance.
In the footages, masked and heavily armed special forces fired gunshots and physically assaulted persons suspected to be hiding guns and ammunition in the NDC parliamentary candidate’s house to disrupt the by-election.
Even though no ammunition was recovered, about six persons sustained gunshot wounds in the incident.
President Akufo-Addo tasked a special three-man commission, led by Justice Emile Short, to go into the nitty-gritty of incidents that led to the unfortunate development.
This was after members of the public had criticised the action of the armed security men.
The NDC explained that the special forces attacked and injured its members.
By Samuel Boadi