We’ll defend ourselves if ... — NDC
The leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed serious concern over the continuous attack on its members after this year’s general election when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) emerged victorious.
Advertisement
The NDC observed that despite calls on the leadership of the NPP to call its supporters to order, coupled with frantic efforts made by the police, NDC supporters continued to suffer violent attacks.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra yesterday, the National Chairman of the NDC, Mr Kofi Portuphy, asked supporters of the party to remain calm in the face of the attacks as the leadership of the party continued to engage with the appropriate stakeholders to ensure their safety.
He gave a strong warning, however, that if attacks on members of the party continued beyond January 7, 2017, supporters of the NDC would be left with no option but to defend themselves.
“The security agencies have been trying their best to bring peace to bear on these acts of violence to no avail. But we want to say in very clear and unequivocal terms that anybody who tries it after January 7, 2017 will not have it easy with the NDC at all. Currently, members of the NDC cannot move freely for fear of being attacked by NPP supporters. If this situation continues, the NDC will be forced to come up with reprisal attacks,” he added.
Party unity
Touching on the unity of the NDC after the electoral defeat, Mr Portuphy asked all communicators and activists of the party to stay away from all forms of blame game and the tendency to use the media to air their grievances.
He said the preoccupation of the party was to re-strategise and galvanise its support base right from the branch to the national level in order to present a formidable force in the 2020 election.
Consequently, he asked all party members and sympathisers to remain resolute and unflinching in working hard for the party to recapture power.
Other Trending Stories
“I will like to appeal to members of the NDC to remain calm because we are a disciplined party. Those of our members who are being lured by some radio and television stations to make provocative statements that are not in tune with the norms of our party should desist from doing so.
“Let us look at our branches, constituencies, regions and national structures, and resolve our problems internally because the leadership of the party abhors individuals taking our domestic issues out into the public domain,” he stressed.
He urged all aggrieved members of the party to use internal structures to address those issues, adding that the resolution process ought to be devoid of name-calling and verbal attacks on one another.
Background
Pockets of violent attacks have been recorded in some parts of the country in the aftermath of the December 7 polls that saw the Presidential Candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, clinch an emphatic victory to form the next government beginning from January 7, 2017.
There have been reports of violent take-overs of state agencies, destruction of state properties and molestation of political opponents, a development allegedly being perpetrated by some activists of the NPP.
The President, Mr John Mahama, in a statement earlier this week, condemned those actions and called on the leadership of the NPP to restrain its supporters from causing further mayhem, saying such a situation did not augur well for the country’s democracy.
The National Peace Council (NPC) and some members of the clergy have also joined in the call for all political parties to restrain their supporters from engaging in further violence and appealed to the NPP in particular to be modest in celebrating its electoral victory.
The security agencies have also sent signals of their readiness to deal with perpetrators of violent acts and arrest troublemakers.