We disagreed with police on Bryan Acheampong's comment – NDC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has confirm that upon the invitation of the Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, the leadership of the party participated in a meeting with the top brass of the Ghana Police Service on 17th April, 2023, to discuss some pertinent issues of concern.

The NDC said its leadership at the said meeting, however, disagreed with the position of the Police that the comments made by the Minister of Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong to the effect that, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will not hand-over power to the NDC in 2025, did not pass the test of criminality.

The NDC in a statement signed by Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer, noted that it made the point, and still stand by same, that the statement by Mr Bryan Acheampong breaches Section 207 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), to wit, offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace.

The party contended and still maintain that the said comments by Mr Bryan Acheampong was intended, and did actually incite supporters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to act in a manner that has the tendency and likelihood to breach public peace in the aftermath of the 2024 general elections.

Apart from Mr Acheampong’s comments, the NDC also said it registered its displeasure over the handling of Police investigations into the murder of Silas Wulochamey, a 28-year-old teacher trainee graduate, who met his untimely death after he was stabbed by bandits associated with the NPP at Banda Kabrono during the 2020 voter registration exercise.

Following the act, seven persons were arrested by the Police in connection with the heinous crime but, the party noted that, nearly three years on, investigations into this serious matter have stalled, as the suspects have been granted bail without justifiable basis, while the Police claims to be unable to obtain a pathologist report.

The party said it found these excuses by the law enforcement officers untenable and unsatisfactory, and condemned the Police’s handling of the matter.

Among others, the NDC stressed and reminded the Police to take a relook particularly at their stance on Mr Bryan Acheampong’s comments and act on the matter with the speed and urgency with which they acted in apprehending and prosecuting other political actors for making similar statements in recent time.

Read details of the NDC statement below:

RE: POLICE MEET LEADERSHIP OF NPP AND NDC OVER HAPPENINGS ON THE POLITICAL FRONT.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has taken notice of a recent statement authored by the Ghana Police Service under the above caption, dated 17th April, 2023.

The party would like to confirm that indeed, upon the invitation of the Inspector General of Police, the leadership of the NDC participated in a meeting with the top brass of the Ghana Police Service on 17th April, 2023, to discuss some pertinent issues of concern to us.

While commending the Police for the cordial nature of the discussions, and for their initiative in establishing a Police Election Security Secretariat to work with Political Parties to enhance election security and other politically-related matters, the NDC at the said meeting disagreed with the Police on a number of critical issues as follows:

1. The leadership of the party disagreed with the position of the Police that the inflammatory and incendiary comments made By Bryan Acheampong to the effect that, the New Patriotic Party will not hand-over power to the NDC in 2025, did not pass the test of criminality. We made the point, and still stand by same, that the statement by Bryan Acheampong breaches Section 207 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), to wit, offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace.

We contended and still maintain, that the said comments by Bryan Acheampong was intended, and did actually incite supporters of the ruling NPP to act in a manner that has the tendency and likelihood to breach public peace in the aftermath of the 2024 General Elections.

2. The leadership of the NDC registered our displeasure over the handling of Police investigations into the murder of Silas Wulochamey, a 28-year-old teacher trainee graduate, who met his untimely death after he was stabbed by bandits associated with the New Patriotic Party at Banda Kabrono during the 2020 Voter Registration Exercise.

Following this dastardly act, seven persons were arrested by the Police in connection with the heinous crime. Regrettably, the party noted, that nearly three years on, investigations into this serious matter have stalled, as the suspects have been unceremoniously granted bail without justifiable basis, while the Police claims to be unable to obtain a pathologist report. The party found these excuses untenable and unsatisfactory, and condemned the Police’s handling of this important matter.

3. Representatives of the party at the said meeting further expressed dissatisfaction over the inaction of the Police in investigating the killing of some Ghanaians during the 2020 General Election in the Techiman South and Ablekuma Central Constituencies. In this regard, the party vehemently rejected the Police’s claim that it was unable to identify the Military Officers and other people in uniform, who shot and killed these innocent Ghanaian citizens.

The party made the point forcefully, that the said military officers were under the Command of the Military High Command, and were deployed to these locations on that fateful day under strict instructions. It could not therefore be said that their identities were unknown. In any case, some of these incidents were captured on camera and several videos in circulation, which could provide a lead to the Police in their investigations. The party therefore charged the Police to expedite action on these serious murder cases.

4. The party expressed displeasure at the inhumane and degrading treatment that was meted out to a young activist of the party called Mohammed Nasir, who was arrested in connection with disturbances at the recent NDC National Youth and Women conference in Cape Coast. Mohammed Nazir was beaten and tortured for four days continuously while in Police custody.

The National Democratic Congress hereby wishes to reiterate these concerns, and to once again remind the Ghana Police Service to take a relook particularly at their stance on Bryan Acheampong’s incendiary comments, consistent with their position on similar recent events.

We expect the Police to act on this matter with the speed and urgency with which they acted in apprehending and prosecuting other political actors for making similar statements in recent time. The party further expects the Police to act with dispatch in addressing the other concerns abovestated. We believe that, this is the only way, the Police can engender the confidence of the Ghanaian people in the new interventions they have introduced.