General News of Monday, 5 August 2013

Source: The Herald

Direct calls for peace at Akufo-Addo and the NPP - Group

Inside Ghana commends efforts by various institutions and individuals who in their diverse ways are putting together initiatives to safeguard the stability of the democracy of Ghana. Calls for peace are rife as the nation inches closer to determine the fate of the election petition and rightly so considering the price at stake.

A statement signed by George Spencer Quaye, Convener said “while such calls are welcoming, it is equally important that it is directed towards Nana Addo and the NPP who visited unimaginable and untold violence on the people of Ghana after having overwhelmingly lost the December 2012 elections. Why are we all pretending to not know what Nana Addo and the NPP did before going to court? Why is such atrocity being swept under the carpet? Why is IDEG, Peace Council and Manhyia silent over the beating of journalists and NDC sympathizers by Nana Addo’s men? Why are we not calling on Nana Addo to retract the “all die be die” mantra? Who pays the price for the Obra Spot trial?”

The statement continued that “Nana Addo and the NPP’s commitment to peace is very questionable and begs the question. It is not enough to talk of peace. A conscious effort must be made towards making people believe in peace and it is for this very reason that Inside Ghana is calling for these efforts to be directed towards those who have declared to make Ghana ungovernable just because the people rejected them at the polls. The posture and conduct of Nana Addo and the NPP is that of abhorrence to peace. We can no longer play the ostrich and pretend we don’t know the problem.

Nana Addo, lead petitioner must be made to commit himself to the peace process and be held personally liable for any violence from that camp. He must first denounce his “all die be die” mantra which seems to give false hope to his followers. He must also pledge to accept the verdict. And finally be made to apologise for the reckless conduct of the party in the aftermath of the elections”

“We would recall how on various platforms,” says the statement, Nana Addo and other leading members of NPP alluded to fraudulent conspiracy between the Electoral Commission and the NDC to steal the mandate of the people. This palpable lie which was meant to deceive Ghanaians formed the basis of the petition in the public domain and yet Nana Addo is getting away with it. The NPP deliberately whipped up public support by lying to Ghanaians through their teeth and yet as a country no one has found the courage to question them.

“Inside Ghana also opposes the view that we are tragically bound to calls for peace on anything to do with elections. We believe the security apparatus of the State must be encouraged to demonstrate their ability to protect the majority law abiding citizens from the few hoodlums who seem to pursue an evil inherent ambition without recourse to national stability. As a constitutional State, it behooves on every citizen to uphold the rule of law and those who fall foul to the law must be ruthlessly dealt as the law says”, the statement concluded.