Govt propaganda can't erase 'bloody' Ayawaso by-election shame – Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama has hit back at government following his meeting with the diplomatic community over the violence that marred the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.

According to him, “no amount of propaganda from government can erase the shame this country was subjected to on that ‘bloody Thursday’”.

Mr Mahama’s comment comes on the back of a press conference by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who described the former President’s presentation of the violence to the diplomatic community as false and regrettable.

Mr Nkrumah further called on Mr Mahama to apologise, as his actions were prejudicial to the work of the Commission of Enquiry set up to investigate the events of the by-election.

But in a Facebook post on Monday, Mr Mahama who described government’s response to his meeting as “sponsored propaganda”, called on government to own up to its  responsibilities and ensure the prosecution of the criminal elements who it deployed in Ayawaso West Wuogon.

Below is the full statement

No amount of government sponsored propaganda and distraction will take away the stigma of the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election, as darkest day in the history of Ghana’s 4th Republican democracy.

The substance of the matter is the violence meted out to innocent Ghanaians by hoodlums of the ruling government, paraded initially as state security personnel.

Thanks to videos filmed by television stations and other individuals, the true identity of these hoodlums, identified as members of the Invincible and Delta Forces of the NPP have been revealed.

The victims, injured on the day, did not take guns and shoot themselves. They were injured by powerful assault rifles given to partisan hoodlums for the purpose of intimidating Ghanaians who were peacefully exercising their franchise in a by-election.

The meeting held by my office in conjunction with the NDC Party and the Minority in Parliament was to correct the false impression given to the diplomatic corps that NDC was the cause of the violence in Ayawaso West Wuogon.

No amount of propaganda from government can erase the shame this country was subjected to on that ‘bloody Thursday’.

In any case, this is not the first, and will not be the last time in our history that an opposition group is meeting with the diplomatic corps to explain or clarify its version or outlook on policy or events in our country.

Government must own up to its responsibilities and ensure the prosecution of the criminal elements who it deployed in Ayawaso West Wuogon. It is those actions that paint the country black internationally, not those who expose the dastardly acts sanctioned by government and its appointees.

In the public interest, let me share with you, one of the three main videos I showed at the Wednesday meeting with diplomats on the violence in Ayawaso West Wuogon. This, like the others, is a compilation available and shared widely by various media houses over the period.

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