Today in History: Shame on you! Dumelo 'blasts' govt for failing to join Ayawaso commemoration

Today marks a year after John Dumelo, the 2020 National Democratic Congress Parliamentary Candidate for Ayawaso West Wuogon condemned the New Patriotic Party for failing to commemorate the Ayawso West Wuogon by-election violence.

The actor cum politician who was addressing an anniversary gathering to mark one year of the violence condemned the NPP for not showing up at the event following the commotion they allegedly created in 2019 at the La Bawaleshie school in Accra.

Read the full article as first published by GhanaWeb on February 1, 2020, below:

NDC Parliamentary candidate for the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency, John Dumelo has expressed his uttermost disappointment at the governing party (NPP), for failing to show up at the commemoration event held in honour of victims of violence in the area during the by-election last year.

The actor turned politician did not mince words when he condemned members of the NPP for not showing up at the event following the commotion they allegedly created in 2019 at the La Bawaleshie school in Accra.

He lamented that after the NPP forced their way to power through bloodshed in the constituency, they did not bother to turn up to show their support for the victims of the day; a character he stressed could not be exhibited by the NDC since that was not their makeup.

“…we will come to power without any bloodshed. Those who came to power through bloodshed, I just want to say shame on them. They should have been here. They should have been here to sympathise with us, but they chose not to come.

But we, on the other hand, we shall win power without shedding of any blood, without any violence, and without any form of discrimination and intimidation...” he chided

MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Lydia Alhassan was voted into power to replace her husband, Emmanuel Kwabena Kyerematen Agyarko after he passed on while in power.

The by-election was marred with violence at one of the polling stations after masked security operatives stormed the area with fully loaded weapons. Some of the delegates were injured after there was a shootout and commotion which erupted at the venue.

Recounting the incident, however, Mr. Dumelo intimated that unlike the governing party, the NDC would come to power devoid of any form of violence come 2020. He added that whether a new voters register is compiled or not, the NDC would capture power in the coming elections in December.