Attack on Nii Lante Vanderpuye suggests Ghana’s democracy is eroding – Security Expert

Security analyst, Colonel (rtd) Festus Aboagye, fears Ghana’s democracy may be retrogressing, citing recent attacks on a Member of Parliament to make his point.

Nii Lante Vanderpuye, Member of Parliament for Odododiodio Constituency, was beaten to a pulp on Tuesday, August 1, 2020, by persons suspected to be National Security operatives.

Colonel (rtd) Aboagye said if the Odododiodio MP was truly assaulted by National Security operatives, then they have acted in breach of the law.

It is not yet clear why the MP was attacked, but Festus Aboagye said it “potentially suggests that our democracy is being risked and eroded instead of improved.”

He made the comments during an interview on Joy News.

The security analyst, who is also a teaching consultant at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre (KAIPTC), said the attack on the MP adds to the many pockets of violence that threaten the upcoming general elections in December.

“December 7, 2020, wouldn’t be a quiet day because people have already strategised to resolve all issues between now and then, through the use of force,” he noted.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress Legislator has explained that he was assaulted in front of the James Town Police station while working to secure bail for a journalist.

He told the media that he had asked the journalist to take pictures of some projects he had undertaken in his constituency only to be told later that the journalist had been arrested by the police.

Mr Vanderpuye told JoyNews that 12 persons from the National Security walked to him and launched an attack on him at the police station.

He said they ordered him to leave after brutalising him.

According to him, but for the intervention of the police, the worst could have happened.