“Propaganda Mongering Against Me will not Succeed” – Akufo-Addo

The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo has assured President Mills and his army of propaganda warriors
that they would not succeed in their deliberate propaganda mongering against
the him and the New Patriotic Party.

Nana Addo made this known at a press conference held at the Freedom Hotel,
Ho, where he responded to President Mills’ position on peaceful elections in
the country which was contained in his State of the Nation address delivered
on Thursday 17th February 2011.

He described as very disturbing, the conduct of His Excellency Professor
J.E.A Mills who used the solemn occasion of the State of the Nation address
and the podium of Parliament to attack and threaten his political opponents,
opponents who have demanded peaceful, free and fair elections in 2012,
devoid of violence, intimidation and fraud.

“Instead of using that august opportunity to address these legitimate
concerns he opted to speak as the leader of a political party on an
imaginary battlefield”, Nana Addo said.

Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP, over the last two years, has catalogued
details of savage attacks against party activists, which have gone
unpunished. He said the NPP has also protested the apparently selective
manner in which the law is being applied by the state against those
perceived to be political opponents of the current government.

“With the able support of the media, we have tried to bring the President’s
attention to the impunity with which so-called footsoldiers of the ruling
party have spent the last 25 months attacking people and property.”

“We have expressed our extreme worry about violence as an electoral
strategy, as was evident in all three parliamentary contests held under his
watch, namely, the completion of the Akwatia election, and the Chereponi and
Atiwa by-elections. The deplorable incidents in these elections were
unknown in the Kufuor era, which saw the conduct of at least ten
by-elections.”

“For all our repeated public appeals to the President of the Republic in
these last two years his preferred form of a belated response, as Ghanaians
witnessed to their dismay last Thursday, was to label the complainant a
war-monger and threaten to come down heavily on those who complain”, Nana
Addo said.

Nana Addo explained that the slogan ‘All Die be Die’ came as a result of NPP
party activists being reduced to second class citizens and becoming victims
of vituperations, discrimination, intimidation, aggression and incarceration
without protection from the state.

“Our supporters know fully well what is meant by the ‘all die be die’
slogan. They know it is not a call on them to initiate violence. It is a
defensive exhortation. It is but a call to the victims of aggression to
stand firm and if need be defend themselves against the aggressor”, Nana
said.

Nana Addo remarked that it has not come as a surprise to that there has not
been a single incident of a violent response occurring anywhere in the
country from NPP supporters as a result of the slogan, as NPP supporters are
supporters are responsible citizens.

Nana Addo took the opportunity to urge NPP members and supporters to
continue to be law-abiding citizens and play by the rules of the game.

Let the President, he said, “Send a similar message to his out-of-control
supporters”.

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NPP Communications Directorate
NPP Headquarters, Asylum Down. Accra.

Dep. Director: Curtis Perry K. Okudzeto
(024-9679008)