'I'll end political thuggery; Ghanaians can't be toyed with' - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said he will spare no effort in ridding the nation of “offensive” election-related violence since Ghanaians do not deserve to be toyed with in such reckless manner.

The president made this known during the delivery of his speech at the 62nd Independence Anniversary parade held in Tamale in the Northern Region on Wednesday, 6 March 2019.

Nana Akufo-Addo said: “Success must be counted by how many young people go to school and get skills and jobs and not by how many young people can be mass up to disrupt elections or how many broken bones we can count.

“The people of Ghana do not deserve to be toyed with in such a reckless manner”, the president said.

According to him, “The very concept of political violence is offensive and shames us all who are in politics”, adding: “That is why I’ve determined that hopefully the impending dialogue between the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress, who, between them, regularly take up more than 95 per cent of the votes in elections; who have provided all the seven governments of the 4th Republic; and who are the only two parties currently represented in parliament, should succeed.

“I will spare no effort including the initiation of the relevant legislation to ensure that we rid our nation of politically-related violence.”