Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party Nana Akuffo Addo has condemned brutalities visited on members of a pressure group Let My Vote Count yesterday by the police describing it as shameful and a clear manifestation of intimidation.
Some members of the pressure group including leading members of the NPP were yesterday whipped and arrested by the police for violating a court order and using unapproved routes in a march to submit a petition to the Electoral Commission in a call for a new voters register. The police has since justified its action in the wake of wide condemnation from a cross section of Ghanaians and notable individuals.
Addressing some party faithfuls, constituency and regional executives of the party in Bolgatanga Thursday, Nana Addo said the decision of the police to brutalize the unarmed crowd is a smack of intimation and shameful.
“A group of Ghanaians went on a peaceful demonstration yesterday to press home their demand for a new register. This peaceful demonstration was turned by the police into a bloody affair – water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets. It is a great shame on our country, and it is a tragedy for Ghana. The democratic gains that our people have made, they are not going back. We are not going back on democracy. We are not going back to police rule in Ghana. We are not going back to one-man rule.”
Nana Akufo-Addo added that Ghanaians after years of dictatorship have accepted multi-party democracy and will no longer tolerate acts aimed at intimidating the citizenry into submission.
“We are determined to continue down the path of democratic engagement and an open society where its citizens can go about their work peacefully. Brute force by the police against unarmed citizens exercising their constitutional rights, should be a thing of the past” he added.
He reiterated that the majority of Ghanaians and stakeholders in Ghana’s electoral process, who are supportive of the call for a new voters’ register ahead of the 2016 election will continuously make their voices heard
“We want the world to know that no amount of intimidation is going to stop those of us asking for a new register to go about our peaceful advocacy for a new register.”
The flagbearer charged President John Dramani Mahama to establish a commission of enquiry to probe yesterday’s violent incident.
“I believe the President of the Republic is duty-bound to establish a commission of enquiry to go into the events of yesterday into how come the Police behaved the way that they did, and make the appropriate recommendations.”
The “Rise and Build tour” embarked upon by the flagbearer hit the upper east region yesterday and will end tomorrow Friday after a visit to Bawku and Pusiga.
By: Azongo Albert | A1RADIOONLINE.COM | GHANA
