Minister barks at NDC hooliganism

Kobby Acheampong, deputy minister of the Interior has blasted the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its supporters for massing up at the Electoral Commission (EC) offices during 2008 election.

According to Mr Acheampong the party did not do well for ordering its supporters to besiege the EC offices, adding that “the act has a bad connotation”.

Kobby Acheampong vowed to cause arrest of any political party supporters who would besiege the EC offices in this year’s elections.

It shall be recalled that NDC supporters, wielding all kinds of weapons, besieged EC offices during 2008 elections to force the Commissioner to declare the results in their favour.

Speaking at the Inter-Party Youth Committee (IPYC) regional conference in Accra, Mr Acheampong warned that he would instruct the police to arrest supporters of any political party that would besiege the offices of the EC during this year’s elections.

“When this year’s election results are being declared, I would not like to see any political party and its supporters massing up at the Electoral Commission offices,” he said, adding “I will have the sole responsibility of sending the police to arrest any party supporters who will mass up at the EC offices.”

The deputy minister said the massing up of party supporters at the EC offices could cause violence in this year’s election. “Even though it has happened before, it should not happen this time round,” he added.

He said, “We need to leave the EC to do its constitutionally mandated work and to declare the elections in the era of peace and stability.”

Mr Acheampong said Ghana and Africa as a whole could only achieve optimum development when conflicts are eliminated and peace reigns supreme.

He said, “It is only then that we can be assured of increased local and foreign investment in all sectors of the economy and industrialization as well as greater agriculture production.”

He urged the youth to do their best to promote and sustain peace in the country, adding that the youth could always count on the support and collaboration of government in enhancing peace in the country.

Chairman of the Inter-Party Youth Committee, Ludwig Akpene Hlodze said young, enterprising and energetic young men and women of Ghana must be interested in a stable nation so they could realize their dreams and rise through the ranks of their chosen fields of endeavour to aspiring leadership positions in the not too distant future.

“These aspirations can only be attained if we look beyond the forces that bind us as a nation with a common purpose of development rather than charting waters that are deep to keep all of us afloat,” he added.

Mr Hlodze said, “Between peace and conflicts, we will always opt for the former and work at achieving greater peace so as to foster nation building rather than political conflicts that have no end product aside poverty, hunger, diseases, breakdown of law and order and the disruption of the social, economic and political system that would take decades to regain.

“It is against this background that we must always strive towards peace before this December elections, during and after a winner has been declared.”

The conference brought together political party youth leaders as well as other youth leaders from neighbouring West Africa countries to share their experiences in their respective countries with their counterparts in Ghana and to join them advocate for non-violence in this year’s elections.

The objective of the forum was to educate the politically active youth on the democratic process, especially the significance of promoting the plurality of parties, democracy and good governance.