THE NDC AND ITS LEADERSHIP SHOULD BE CALLED TO ORDER – THEY CAN’T DESTROY THIS COUNTRY FOLLOWING THEIR HUMILIATING DEFEAT ON DECEMBER 7

THE NDC AND ITS LEADERSHIP SHOULD BE CALLED TO ORDER – THEY CAN’T DESTROY THIS COUNTRY FOLLOWING THEIR HUMILIATING DEFEAT ON DECEMBER 7

Iddi Muhayu-Deen writes…

First, it was the NDC National Youth Organizer, Siidi Abubakar, who organized a press conference, inciting NDC supporters to rise up and defend themselves if they were subjected to any form of attack by jubilant NPP activists. Some of us kept quiet because we felt he was a ‘small fish’, who was only engaged in youthful exuberance. Then, the National Organizer of the party, Kofi Adams joined the fray, making similar call on his party’s rank and file. We still kept quiet, whilst observing keenly. Now, the leader and National Chairman of the party has himself, charged on members of the NDC to RETALIATE and DEFEND THEMSELVES if they are attacked by supposed NPP supporters.

According to him, despite several calls on the NPP leadership to caution its supporters over such attacks, NDC supporters are still being attacked and they [the NDC leadership] have now run out of patience. At this juncture, we CANNOT keep quiet and I call on every progressive mind in this country to call this NDC leadership to order. We shouldn’t allow them to plunge this country into chaos through such dangerous incitements because they feel bitter about their HUMILIATING DEFEAT at the just ended polls. Ghana is the only country we have and we must do everything to protect her.

Sanity demands that this current NDC executives, under the chairmanship of Kofi Potorphy resign immediately after the declaration of the election results or better still, be seen apologising profusely to their party supporters for leading the NDC into a ‘state of no return’. The NDC supporters are in serious pain and anguish. The party did not only lose the 2016 election, but also suffered its worst electoral defeat in history. In fact, right from the days of Adam, no sitting president or governing party in Ghana, Africa or anywhere in the World has ever suffered such humiliating embarrassment except President John Mahama and the NDC. A complete waterloo that was!

The party lost more than 50 Parliamentary Seats and got defeated by over a million votes in the presidential polls. Yet, their leaders are not soberly reflecting on this unprecedented fiasco; they are not apologising to their supporters; they are not resigning. And to add more insult to injury, when it became VERY CLEAR that the party had lost the elections, prior to the final declaration by the EC, these NDC executives were instead, deliberately lying to their supporters and telling them to go ahead and jubilate because John Mahama had won the 2016 elections. Such a danger and monumental foolhardiness!  They did not care about the prevailing peace and stability in the country and were ready to compromise same.

Fast forward to the aftermath of the official declaration by Madam Charlotte Osei of the EC. As expected, supporters of the NPP across the country were utterly ecstatic, with some of them taking their wild jubilation and ecstasy to the streets. Of course, there were a few excesses under the circumstances because, we were told that some 3 or 4 NDC activists suffered some physical discomforts. We have also heard that some NPP youth attempted to takeover the management of the Ashiaman and Tema tollbooths, the following day. These acts were most reprehensible and condemnable.

Fortunately, the NPP immediately issued an official statement, which was signed by the party’s general secretary, condemning these acts of lawlessness and called on the rank and file of the party to be moderate in their celebration. The party also dissociated itself from those excesses and indeed called on the police to apprehend anyone, whose actions violate our laws, because crime is crime and has no political coloration. Beyond that, the party tasked its youth organizers at all levels to take steps to reverse the situation.

Aside the party’s strong worded statement, His Excellency Nana Addo, the President Elect, also added his voice in calling these supporters to order and asked the security agencies to clampdown on them. He reminded all and sundry that the NPP is a party of Rule of Law and as such, would not countenance any act of lawlessness on the part of anybody. After all these genuine commitments, I wonder what else the NDC expect Nana Addo and the NPP leadership to do. Go and arrest the people? Do they think we live in a ‘Banana Republic’?

Remember, until the 7^th of January, Nana Addo is not the President or Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces and the NPP is not in charge of the affairs of this country. Don’t forget that the NDC has, in the past 30 years or so, been trying feverishly to brand Nana Addo as a violent man and a danger to the peace of this country. This latest move is just one of such propagandist desperations against this noble man. Unfortunately for them, Ghanaians have proven to be more discerning than they thought and still hold firm, their belief and confidence in Nana Akufo-Addo as manifested in the outcome of the just ended polls.     

Now, let’s subject the NDC to the same litmus test relative to postelection disturbances. In 2008, when the NDC won the general elections from the erstwhile Kufour government, what didn’t we witness in this country? Their party supporters and foot soldiers went on the frenzy, visiting mayhem on innocent Ghanaians and perceived NPP supporters. This resulted in the gruesome murder of some known NPP activists including those who were killed in Agbogbloshie; Soale, Alhassan and Sule. These innocent guys were murdered by their NDC counterparts, whose names were given as Mohammed Ayatu, Abdalla Rasta as well as one Albert Naa. Surprising none of these known NDC hooligans was arrested by the police.

Again, these lawless NDC supporters and footsoldiers HIJACKED every single public toilet in the country, locked-up some public offices including NHIS, NYEP and NADMO offices claiming that their party had come to power and so, they were taking charge of every public facility in country. They virtually took the whole country to ransom and surprisingly, no one could call them to order. Their party, the NDC, could not even issue a statement to condemn their lawlessness.

The police could not handle them either. In fact, it got to a point in time, where a Municipal Police Commander, precisely that of Yendi, lamented that the police could not effect any arrest because those marauding guys were NDC foot soldiers. That’s certainly the apogee of impunity and it couldn’t have gotten worse than that.

That is the track record of the NDC when they won the 2008 elections. How can anybody compare what happened then as vividly painted above, to what we are witnessing today? As much as what we are expressing today is also highly condemnable, I dare say that any attempt to compare this with the ugly spectacle of 2008/09 after the NDC victory, would not only be an exercise in absurdity, but also an act of insanity. Yet today, the NDC is crying wolf. This is in spite of the fact that, the reportage on the postelection disturbances this year, has been overly exaggerated by a section of the Ghanaian media.

Again, unlike in 2009, this year, casualties have been recorded from both sides of the political divide. And this, has been confirmed by the police. The police also say that they’ve been able to arrest the ringleaders of some of these disturbances and they include activists of both NPP and NDC. So, what is the NDC national chairman telling us? In any case, aren’t we aware that most of the so called attack on supposed NDC supporters are fake? That of Wofa K’ and Mzbel comes to mind immediately.

These NDC guys are capable of doing anything. I hope you also remember the infamous incidence involving Hon. Benjamin Kumbour and Yaw Obimpe, former Attorney-General and NDC Ashanti Regional Chairman respectively, who staged an attack on themselves and later accused the NPP until police investigations found them culpable. Once again, I wish to remind the NDC National Chairman and his party that they can fool all of us some of the time, and some of us all the time, but they can’t fool all of us, all the time.

Assalamu alaik