Baako slams Mahama over Nima clash comment

Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has chided President John Mahama over his recent comment on the attack on the residence of the Flagbearer of opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo Addo by supporters of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to him, the President should had hessitated in taking a political stance on the matter especially as the police were yet to make public their conclusion over the incident.

President John Mahama has blamed the Nima Police for the clashes that ensued between members of the NDC and the security detail of the NPP flagbearer in front of his Nima residence Sunday morning.

According to the President, the Police should have anticipated the situation and map out strategies to avert it.

Supporters of the NDC on a health walk allegedly threw stones into Akufo-Addo’s house leading to gun shots from the flagbearer’s security detail to ward off the supporters.

The development has been condemned by both the US and UK envoys in Ghana.

Addressing labour unions in Accra Tuesday, Mr. Mahama said the situation was avoidable if the Police had acted right.

“Only last Saturday we almost had a clash which was unfortunate, if any of those firearms had been fired and someone had dropped dead it would have been a completely different story. I think we should be preventive enough in our actions to prevent such things…I think that the police at Nima should have been better briefed knowing that this group was passing through and then we should have taken appropriate safeguards to ensure that such a thing doesn’t happen,” he stated.

However speaking on Peace FM Wednesday, the Veteran Journalist stated that President Mahama by his comment will inadvetently encourage his party’s rank and file which will make them feel they made no mistake.

“I think it was a wrong line he took, first of all he said as Commander-in-Chief, so it means he was speaking as President of Ghana and the content of his address was suggestive that he thought the NDC supporters were innocent and that they were rather the victims. And that he’l ensure that the law took its course. I thought what the President should have done at that moment…few hours after that event when possibly he had not been well briefed, was to rather say that Commander-in-Chief he’ll ensure that law and order will be maintained. Whoever is involved in such a thing at the end of investigation will be dealt with according to the law.”

He added: “What was suggetive is that he’d pointed accusing fingers at the otherside was that he said…when one is about to lose an election he clearly sees it and then creates some scenarios in order to justify his defeat. It means he was pointing to the opponents as the one who might have perpetrated the crisis, it was more like we already know who perpetrated the incident and those people know they’ll lose hence their resort to such actions. That one encourages your rank and file and it makes them feel they made no mistake, I was not too particular with that approach.”