NPP, stop harassing us - NDC cries

In light of the several arrests and legal suits initiated against former government officials and functionaries of the National Democratic Congress administration, the party has called on President J.A. Kufuor to take necessary steps to halt the situation in order to ease the rising political tension in the country.

According to Network Herald inquiries, the national co-chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji Issifu Ali, sent a 18-paged letter to the President, complaining about the pattern of persistent mistreatment and harassment of persons belonging to and associated with the NDC and the past NDC government which are not in line with the President's many declarations before and after 7th January to uphold the rule of law and the promote national unity and reconciliation.

He added that there have been a series of actions accompanied by official statements and pronouncements by leading members of the NPP government, which have ended up raising the political temperature with the resultant impression of political instability in the country.

Alhaji Ali therefore added that the NDC "is proceeding on the assumption that some of these acts may not be known to the President. It is therefore chronicling the numerous incidents of harassment for the President's attention so that he may take whatever steps he deems necessary to halt these acts and thereby ease the rising political tension."

He identified the detention of E.T. Mensah, Member of Parliament for Prampram in relation with the Nima Riots, the Quality Grain Affair for which five former government officials are currently facing trial, the arrest of Mr. Victor Serlomey and several other investigations and arrests, among others, which appears to be "an unannounced countrywide probe of the entire era of the Party."

He stated that unlike previous probes after military coup d'etats conducted by properly constituted and announced Committees of Enquiries, which sat publicly and with specific terms of reference, the current probes are mainly conducted by the intelligence and security agencies especially the Bureau of National Investigations, the Police Criminal Investigations Department and the Serious Fraud Office.

"The agony they are causing people, the arbitrary detentions to which they have subjected persons who have appeared before them, the unnecessary searches conducted at odd hours for which nothing has been found - the stories are best told by the victims of this Gestapo-style investigations themselves, " Alhaji Ali added.

He therefore directed the President's attention to the fact that as a result of this particular campaign by his government, hatred has been engendered against the NDC while unnecessary surveillance including tapping of phones have been placed on the top echelon of the Party including Former President Rawlings and the NDC flagbearer for the 2000 elections, Professor J.E.A Mills.

He said that the NPP government, as the first post independence Government to have the baton of governance constitutionally handed over to them, has a unique opportunity to create the much needed precedents in the handling of transitions to be followed by succeeding governments. He also warned that the way that the current administration was treating members of the NDC government would greatly determine to a large extent how members of succeeding governments, who may lose elections, will be treated.

He therefore called on the President to see to it that his government " changes its tactics, call off the hounds and treat members of the former NDC government with some dignity and the same sense of decorum that will be extended to him upon his leaving of office."