Atta Mills On Anlo Crisis

The Thursday, November 01, 2007, happenings in Anloga and the subsequent loss of human life are acts that must be condemned especially as President Kufuor and his officials had it within their mandate to act swiftly to prevent the carnage.

I must make the point that it is very unfortunate that the Interior Minister and his security apparatuses allowed blood to be shed and lives to be lost before moving in to bring matters under control.

The ominous signs were very glaring and it is surprising that adequate measures were not put in place to stop the bloodbath.

It is highly unacceptable the way President Kufuor and his NPP government are carving an image which portrays them as people who only act after the worse has happened.

In the gruesome beheading of the Overlord of Dagbon and forty of his subjects, the murder of Alhaji Issah Mobila, the Ga chieftaincy crisis, the Sefwi Wiaso chieftaincy crisis, and now the Anlo chieftaincy crisis, the NPP government was forewarned about the looming bloodletting but chose to sit idly by and not put in place the necessary measures to check any unacceptable acts.

This fire fighting and reactionary approach to governance by President Kufuor’s NPP government is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.

Every human life is precious and the government cannot continue to ignore the signals and allow innocent Ghanaians to die before making lame attempts at dousing the flames.

I am calling in the law enforcement agencies to please act in the utmost professional manner in managing the situation, especially as one person is reported to have died in Police custody in Ho, and not allow any of the sides involved in the matter as well as any partisan considerations to influence them in the conduct of their duties.

More than enough blood has already been shed and more than enough lives have already been lost and I hope all the parties involved in the crisis would act cautiously for the situation to not get out of hand.

I sympathise with the families that have lost loved ones, sympathise with the police for losing one of theirs, and wish the injured a speedy recovery.

Let us make sure that peace returns and prevails in Anloga and Anloland.

John Evans Atta Mills (NDC Presidential Candidate)