NPP glorifies criminality - Adams

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is a party that condones and supports criminality, the National Organiser of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kofi Adams, has suggested.

His accusation comes on the heels of the Ashanti regional chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, who was arrested Tuesday May 3 and arraigned before court by the regional Police Command for alleged assault.

Mr Boasiako was held by the police following a complaint by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah, and the Secretary to the party in that constituency, Felix Ibrahim, at Krofrom in Kumasi.

Lawyers for the Manhyia North MP the NPP’s Secretary in that constituency later submitted a formal request to the court expressing their wish to drop all charges of assault they leveled against Wuntumi.

In the heat of Wontumi’s arrest, the acting national chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay made comments to the effect that his colleague’s arrest was an “occupational hazard”.

Mr Blay added: “I have faith in the leadership of the party in the Ashanti region. They cannot be broken. We are even more determined [because] we came all the way from Accra [with] a lot of things to be done there, [but] we decided that until he has had his freedom [and] until we show the solidarity, we don’t care about anything”.

But Mr Adams has described Mr Blay’s comments as distasteful. In an interview with Omanhene Kwabena Asante on Asempa FM’s ‘Ekosii sen’ on Monday May 9, Mr Adams stated that: “The way an NPP Chairman was invited and has to sleep at the police station and put before court shows that the security agencies are not sleeping on their job, but what is hurtful is that someone has committed an act which contravenes the constitution then an acting national chairman of the party will say: ‘If the person is touched then NPP has been touched’. So, he is just confirming that the NPP does not obey the constitution of the land,” he stressed.

To him, “Wontumi went to slap someone and assault is a crime in this country. Even if you beat your own child beyond a certain limit, it is assault and a crime”.

According to him, the party must express regret over the actions of Mr Wontumi rather than glorify it.

“Instead of the chairman begging and apologising to the people of this country that it was a mistake or something, look at the way he is rather backing the criminal act,” he underscored.