The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has again expressed concerns about the post-election disturbances recorded in some parts of the country.
The invasion of some state institutions and in some cases, looting of state assets are believed to have been carried out by some youth who are supporters of the incoming National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
The Majority Leader of the outgoing parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, at a press conference on Wednesday, called on the leadership of the NDC to immediately rein in their supporters, as these actions are detrimental to democracy.
“I would like to call on His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to speak to his party members. This is not democracy, this is not the democracy we all worked hard for. The hypocrisy is becoming too clear, day in, day out,” he said.
He alleged that the NDC thugs were threatening the lives of various NPP parliamentary candidates, including himself, an action he said does not improve democracy.
Mr Afenyo-Markin also alleged that the NDC is behind the disturbances, and in some cases, party bigwigs are providing resources to the thugs to continue their actions, moving from one institution to another.
Also speaking at the press conference, the General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Koduah, called on the diplomatic community in the country, including civil society organizations, to “as a matter of urgency, and for the sake of our cherished and enviable record as a country that has practiced multi-party democracy for over 32 years, come out and condemn the lawlessness from the NDC.”
He also reiterated the call on Mr John Mahama to bring the aggrieved individuals to order and allow the Electoral Commission to conclude its work on the 2024 elections, as that is “the beauty of democracy.”
Between Saturday, December 7, and Wednesday, the thugs succeeded in attacking the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) office, destroying items, including photos of the outgoing President, Nana Akufo-Addo. They also allegedly looted computers at the Ayawaso East Municipal Assembly and vandalized assets at the National Service block.
Another group of thugs reportedly attacked the Metro Mass Transport yard at Kaneshie, attempting to loot a vehicle before the police intervened to control the situation.
On Tuesday, another group allegedly attacked the Electoral Commission’s (EC) head office in Accra. They also set fire to EC offices in some districts. Thugs also attacked the Ghana Gas Company in Accra, but this was controlled by a swift police response.
In Sunyani, another group of thugs attacked the Forestry Commission, and in Kedjebi in the Oti Region, they invaded the MCE’s residence.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested 106 individuals suspected to be involved in the violence in various ways.
The leadership of the NDC, including the president-elect, had previously called on their supporters or whoever was involved in the disturbances to halt their operations or suffer the consequences when they were caught.
Meanwhile, a Deputy Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Malik Basintale, has blamed supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the post-election violent incidents recorded across the country.
Mr Basintale told Joy News that the individuals who carried out these unlawful acts were not NDC supporters, but rather disgruntled NPP foot soldiers.
“At first, many people thought that they were NDC guys who were storming these offices to cause mayhem. Yesterday [Tuesday], in the Awutu Senya West constituency, our guys had an issue with NPP thugs breaking into the Agenda 111 facility and trying to steal iron rods and other building materials. So, it took our guys to initiate a citizen’s arrest and they handed them over to the police station” he claimed.
