Hypocrisy at its best

“I am not interested in political power that is tainted with blood,” President Mills said in Senegal recently.

This is a President who has perfected the art of preaching peace, when people around him are preparing for war. When President Atta Mills went to Dakar and pontificated on his desire for a peaceful election in December, he knew that his top aides were preparing the grounds for war. Someone should tell the President his blood thirsty thugs have already started with the blood shedding. This is the reality on the ground.

The most annoying aspect of the pronunciation in Dakar, Senegal was that when the President was denouncing violence and hooliganism in Dakar, his special aide, Nii Lante Vanderpuiye, the NDC parliamentary candidate for the Odododiodioo constituency in Accra was busily promoting ethnic cleansing in that constituency. The Odododiodioo area has become a no-go area for a large mass of Ghanaians. As expected, our President seems to be completely unaware of who is largely responsible for these "isolated" instances of violence. There are various incidents throughout the country which are deliberately orchestrated by NDC activists aimed at reducing the number of people registering in supposedly NPP strongholds. Why should your DCEs, in collaboration with some police officers, hurriedly run to police stations to grant bail to people who fall foul of the law? Practice what you preach, Atta Mills, Ghanaians are tired of your hypocrisy. The magnitude of division that we are witnessing in Ghana today is impossible to comprehend.

Is President Mills not aware that potential voters at Odododiodioo are being prevented from registering by Nii Lante Vanderpuiye? This Vanderpuiye guy has been preventing persons who bear Akan names but either live or work in the constituency from taking part in the biometric voter registration exercise. Not long ago, this same Vanderpuiye sent hooligans to attack NPP members when they were holding a meeting at Zongo Lane in the Odododiodioo constituency. Mr. President, tell your aide to stop this madness in Odododiodioo. Enough is enough.

All over the country, NDC hoodlums are disrupting the registration exercise in areas perceived to be opposition strongholds. Armed thugs led by one Ddigbordi, a known NDC hooligan at Moshie Zongo in Kumasi together with some NDC hoodlums are on the rampage harassing and threatening people in the Kumasi Metropolis. It feels great that the President has finally found his voice to condemn the unnecessary violence disrupting the registration process. However, he should back his words with deeds and publicly scorn those causing mayhem in registration centres. Ghanaians expect the President to publicly chastise his party activists and appointees who are so desperate for power and are physically preventing eligible people from registering. Atta Mills, talking is not enough; we want to see some action this time round. This is the time for you put the “I care for you” slogan into practice.

Desmond Frimpong, Norway