The Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the police of doing the bidding of the Akufo-Addo-led government by intimidating officers of the largest opposition party.
The Council also alleges that the latest invitation the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to the National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, to appear before it is an attempt by the government to divert attention from the insecurity in the country.
The Council’s Vice Chairman, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, made these remarks on Thursday, May 9 while addressing journalists at the party’s headquarters in Adabraka, Accra.
Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu was delivering the address on the back of an invitation to Mr Ofosu-Ampofo over allegations that his name popped up in investigations which have to do with recent kidnappings and fire outbreaks in some parts of the country.
“In our view, this is yet another case of intimidation and harassment being employed by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government using the instrumentality of the police to instill fear in our chairman and supporters of our party and to suppress dissenting voices in the country,” he said.
Prior to Wednesday’s invitation, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo has been trekking back-and-forth the CID headquarters over comments captured on a leaked tape and said to have been made by him.
On the leaked tape, a voice is heard instigating the addressees to take the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Ghana, Jean Mensa, to the cleaners and gave greenlight to his audience – said to be party communicators – to verbally attack the National Chairman of the National Peace Council, Rev Professor Emmanuel Kwaku Asante.
“Suffice me to say that we consider the decision by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government to prosecute our officials as meticulous and intended to frustrate the work of the [NDC].”
Alhaji Iddrisu dared the CID to arrest his party’s National Chairman and announced that the latter will not honour the “outrageous” invitation.