I promise to watch my tongue and what I say - Minister

A Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who has recently caused the wrath of the youth of Dagbon has promised to watch his tongue and whatever he says in order not to inflame possible “conflict” in any political discourse.

Reacting to threats by the Andani youth who have vowed not to vote for the NDC if it fails to find the killers of the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya Na Yakubu Andani, the Deputy Minister stated categorically that “as for the Andani youth who are threatening and saying that they will not vote for the NDC, I believe that as adults who have attained universal adult suffrage we make the determination on who we vote for at the personal level. I do not think that voting for anybody should be used as blackmail for which people can think they can do anything and threaten you with their votes”.

According to him, “there is nothing wrong when you make this pledge. I think what everybody would have to understand is that there are laws in this country and those laws must be followed. Whoever wants to decide what to do with their thumb or their votes on voting day let that day come and that is their right to do what they want to do. But for now there are laws in this country and we all have to abide by the laws. None of us is above the law and nobody can use votes to as it were threaten anybody of perpetuate further injustice in this country”.

His comments infuriated the youth of Dagbon who asked him to apologize or face their wrath adding “Ablakwa should know that he is a beneficiary of the Ya-Na murder because tens of thousands of Andanis across the country voted for the NDC because of the Ya-Na issue. With less than 50,000 votes that the NDC used to win the 2008 election it is clear that the party would have lost without the support of the Andanis. We want to warn Ablakwa to desist from making such comments or face our wrath”.

Speaking on “Good Morning Ghana” programme on Metro TV, the Deputy Minister said his comments were misconstrued and promised he will watch his tongue and not retaliate even when provoked.

According to him, “president Mills is committed to finding the killers of Ya Na and has been having sleepless nights over the issue”.

He said the NDC government is committed to a peaceful 2012 elections unlike the opposition NPP who have been making statements such as “all-die-be-die” and that they must win the 2012 elections at all cost which has the potential to disturb the peace of the country.

He admonished the newly constituted National Peace Council to be proactive in identifying conflict prone areas and find lasting solutions to such conflicts and not wait for trouble to spark before they react.

Another panel member, Nana Akomea said the first test case for the National Peace Council is to resolve the trouble in the ruling NDC especially between the camps of ex-president Rawlings and that of president Mills.

He said on a daily basis NDC foot soldiers are found seizing toilets, NYEP offices, NHIS offices as well as chasing ministers out of their offices and called on the appropriate authorities to take action against them and not sit down and fold their arms.

“Peace will best be guaranteed if we allow our security agencies to work”, he added.