The youth wing of the opposition New Patriotic Party says the failure of the NDC government to arrest and prosecute the party's youth who commit crimes was particularly worrying and has outrightly condemned what it calls the "culture of impunity practiced by NDC activists."
A statement issued in Accra and signed by Anthony Karbo, the Youth Leader of the NPP, deployed the rampant seizures of cars, public toilets, offices of NYEP, offices of NHIS, offices of the Metro Mass Transit and other violent acts being perpetrated by the NDC youth in the country.
Read Below The Full Statement Issued By The NPP Youth.
Ghanaians are shockingly waking up to a new but increasingly regular and uncomfortable culture of impunity emanating from activist of the ruling party, glimpses of which ugly phenomena became apparent almost immediately after the NDC was declared winner of the 2008 general elections.
With the rampant and the call by former President Rawlings urging President Mills to sack all former government appointees including DCE’s and MCE’s with the accusations that they were shredding documents to cover up their crimes, - these were clear signals of what was to come.
The failure of the NDC government to arrest or control but to condone the reckless and ceaseless hunt including demand for the immediate arrest and prosecution of former appointees under the then NPP administration is the result of the current spate of violent demonstrations and open threats sweeping across the country but this time around, the attack is not just on the opposition but rather turned on the NDC.
Most of what is fuelling these demands can be traced to how these youth activist were manipulated through deceit and cheap propaganda but the party now in power realizes it is unable to fulfil those lofty and false promises.
A very important factor that cannot be ignored is the numerous statements that have been made by former President Rawlings in attempts to pitch his party against its own government which has been attested to both directly and indirectly by some leading members of the NDC. Statements attributed to him at the just ended NDC youth meeting at Ho suggest an open call for defiance and impunity from the party’s youth as a formula for holding the government accountable to their interest as foot soldiers.
The result now is the seemingly state of lawlessness we find ourselves. A chronicle of some of the major incidents since the inception of this administration will show that there are at least on the average two or more of these lawless occurrences every month from supporters and activist of the ruling government.
It is also very clear that the government has been caught pants down. And if this is the people’s power as preached by the NDC, then it’s no different from ‘gangsterism’ and ‘mob rule’ and Ghanaians will not accept that.
From the arrest and detention of five NPP supporters since January 2009 in the north while twenty one NDC sympathizers were released for the same alleged offense, attacks on S.S Nayina, Agbogbloshie killings in August, 2009, Gbewa youth group in November, 2009 besieged the offices of Tamale MCE amidst threats and chants, audaciously demanding that the heads of Zoomlion, Metro Mass Transit and NYEP be surrendered to members of the group.
They also made specific demands of contracts to be allocated to them for execution and gave the MCE 3 days to yield to their demands else they will go on vandalism spree, the activities of the Azorka boys in Tamale, the Observer Pressure Group’s (OPG) seizure and lockout of party officers at the NDC headquarters demanding for the sacking of Carl Wilson, demand for the sack of the Attorney General, open threats on Kwesi Pratt and Alhaji Bature for speaking their minds, attacks on journalist by NDC youth in Brong Ahafo in December, 2009, and most recently open death threats to the Yendi MCE as well as the Deputy Minister for local government, Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and just yesterday a group in Adenta demonstrated against the MCE, calling for her removal admidst demands on the MP for jobs.
While different sections of the public continue to raise concerns over these conducts on the part of the NDC youth, we the youth of the New Patriotic Party do not see the mere open condemnation coming from a few members of the government as enough measures to arrest such unpardonable acts of violence, lawlessness and utter disrespect for the laws of the land.
Regular calls of concern from the likes of Dr. Omane Boamah, Okudzeto Ablakwa and even more vociferous ones from Elvis Ankrah though necessary are certainly not sufficient as they are like kids gloves and pale in significance when compared to the anarchy being reigned on the entire country by the unacceptable conduct of the NDC youth. Also, we find the government’s reluctance to act appropriately alarming and signs of weakness.
We therefore call on the government, Ministry of Interior and the Ghana Police Service to wake up from the slumber of inertia and move beyond simple rhetoric’s to arrest perpetrators of these crimes – for that is what it is, be they party supporters or not and prosecute them. The state of the Ghanaian youth is one that warrants immediate attention with not just paper based policies but backed by actions. The state of youth unemployment in our country is unprecedented with many of them without employable skills.
The propaganda of 1.6 million jobs created as reported by Deputy Minister Okudzeto Ablakwa falls flat in the face of these agitations coming from the youth wing of his party. It is on record however, that President Mills in his 2010 state of the nation address admitted his government’s gross failure and disappointment in the area of its job creation in 2009 and as such promised to do better in 2010 by requesting the various ministries to submit blue prints for job creation from their respective ministries.
As firm adherents to the rule of law, we call on the government to support state institutions to function as the law demands of them. The era where strongmen instead of institutions ruled is long past. The recent scenes of impunity as expressed by these enthusiastic youth is untenable and cannot be justified no matter what. Ghana belongs to us all and not a particular party or government.
Signed by Anthony Abayifaa Karbo (National Youth Organizer)
0244204160
Source: Anthony Abayifaa Karbo (NPP National Youth Organizer)
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