The National Youth Organiser of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) has apologised to the listeners of Accra-based Asempa FM and Ghanaians in general, for an altercation that occurred between him and the National Communication Officer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday, 1 February 2019.
A video has gone viral on social media which captured Nana B pushing Mr Gyamfi’s head during a charged moment on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen political talk show.
Below is Nana B’s full apology statement:
APOLOGY TO ASEMPA FM LISTENERS AND GHANAIANS
I refer to the events which took place yesterday on Asempa FM's Political Talk Show, 'Ekosii Sen'.
Regardless of the repulsive, provocative conduct by the NDC's National Communication Director on the show, which included unacceptable verbal attacks on the President and myself, I am, upon sober reflection, apologising to listeners of Asempa FM and Ghanaians for the manner in which I responded.
I wish to assure all that I remain committed to decent, issue-based discourse on our airwaves and that this unfortunate incident will not be repeated.
I will also encourage my junior brother, Sammy Gyamfi, to be decorous and respectful in his public utterances during such engagements, and, to, at all times, respect the high office of the President.
Thank you.
Signed
Henry Nana Boakye
National Youth Organiser, New Patriotic Party.
Meanwhile, the NDC’s youth wing has given the police a 24-hour ultimatum to arrest Nana B or face their wrath.
At a press conference late Friday night, the National Youth Organiser of the NDC, George Opare Addo, said: “We demand the immediate arrest of the violent thug, Henry Nana Boakye within 24 hours. If by Monday, the arrest has not been effected, we will consider this an abdication of the responsibility of the police administration.
"We will have no other option than to mobilise our members to demand justice for our comrade”, Mr Opare Addo said.
Below is the NDC youth wing’s full statement:
PRESS STATEMENT BY THE YOUTH WING OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS
We thank you all for honouring our invitation at this ungodly hour even at a short notice. It has become necessary for us to call this press briefing due to the many acts of violence meted out to our members, with the recent one being the unsolicited and unprovoked attack on a National Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi.
Earlier today, our comrade, Sammy Gyamfi was a guest on Asempa FM’s late afternoon political show, Ekosii Sen. He appeared on the show together with representatives from the New Patriotic Party (NPP). To our utter shock and dismay, the National Youth Organiser of the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye extended the thuggery and violence exhibited yesterday by their bandits to our National Communications Officer.
We condemn in no uncertain terms the assault on no mean a person than a national officer of our party. It is worth noting that this same thug of a Youth Organiser, Henry Nana Boakye yesterday instructed bandits associated with the NPP to attack our Deputy National Youth Organiser, Eric Edem Agbana.
The NPP has demonstrated yet again the ‘All die be die’ mantra posited by their President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has become their political philosophy. Indeed, this is not an isolated case of gross violence displayed by the NPP under the Akufo-Addo led government. Time and time again, we have seen the extreme show of brutish force by this government and its assigns. The NPP has succeeded in holding the entire nation to ransom.
It has become evident Nana Akufo-Addo and his bunch of dimwitted appointees cannot be trusted to guarantee the safety of the ordinary Ghanaian. The president is responsible for the acts of lawlessness we have witnessed since this government assumed power. He has orchestrated and supervised activities of so-called vigilante groups. Clearly, by this performance, Nana Akufo-Addo is the worst leader this nation has ever had. The despotic regime has sent fear and panic down the spine of the citizenry.
The NDC is not a violent party, but there is a limit to our patience. Our members and national officers cannot be subjected to such abuses. The Youth wing of the party serves the following notices
• We demand the immediate arrest of the violent thug, Henry Nana Boakye within 24 hours. If by Monday, the arrest has not been effected, we will consider this an abdication of the responsibility of the police administration. We will have no other option than to mobilise our members to demand justice for our comrade.
• We call on Multimedia to blacklist the substandard one, Henry Nana Boakye and bar him from appearing on any of their platforms. Failure to heed our call will mean that no NDC representative will be on the same platform with a thug since we cannot guarantee the safety of our representative.
We are reliably informed that our comrade, Sammy Gyamfi has since lodged an official complaint at the Greater Accra Regional CID unit.
While urging the youth of the NDC to remain calm, we implore them to be battle ready to respond in multiple measures if the police refuses to arrest Henry Nana Boakye within 24 hours.