Did people resign when they said ‘all die be die’? – Woyongo vows to remain in office
The Minister for the interior, Mark Woyongo, has condemned calls for his resignation, vowing to remain in office.
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Mr Woyongo is facing a backlash after he made comments that appeared to justify the activities of youth groups affiliated to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), which have been accused of instigating violence during the recently-concluded Talensi by-election.
Commenting on alleged violent behaviour of the NDC-affiliated Azorka Boys and the NPP-affiliated Bolga Bulldogs, the Minister said, “Violence begets violence. Azorka boys will not behave violently if they were not provoked."
His comments have triggered widespread condemnation, with some politicians and civil society players calling for his immediate resignation.
On social media, there have been relentless calls for Mr Woyongo to either step down or be sacked by President John Mahama.
Legal scholar and an active voice in the Ghanaian social media community, Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh, expressed support for the Minister’s ousting, saying he is “is unfit for the office he holds”.
Prof. Prempeh said: "As Minister of Interior, the Minister is responsible for the maintenance of internal peace and security, law and order. For him to turn around and justify and defend this sort of gangsterism renders him unfit for the office he holds--or any other.
“It is one thing to explain or assign reasons for the rise of a certain situation and another thing altogether to justify or defend it. The Minister's statement amounts to a defence and justification of open and armed gangsterism. It is a deeply troubling abdication of responsibility."
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But speaking on Accra-based radio station, Kasapa FM Thursday morning, Mr Woyongo described calls for his resignation as baseless.
“Resign for what? When people said ‘all die be die’ – ‘we have Atiwa’ and all sorts of nasty incidents in the past … how many people resigned, “ the Minister queried.
When the interviewer drew his attention to the fact that the politician who made reference to “all die be die” was not an elected official at the time, Mr Wonyongo said, “you mean when we had the Atiwa by-election we had no minister in charge of the Interior?”
Stressing that his “violence begets violence” remark had been misunderstood, the Minister said: “Violence begets violence is a truism. If you don’t perpetrate violence, there won’t be a reaction. I made that point very clear but that doesn’t mean I am justifying violence and that I am supporting it and endorsing it, no.”
He said he meant that he would look into the background of the groupings that perpetrated violence during the Talensi by-election and take a decision on them.
Twitter: @SamuelObour