The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has condemned the “acts of criminality perpetrated against the courts and for that matter the judiciary by the so-called Delta Forces in Kumasi following the arrest and prosecution of thirteen of their members for involvement in an earlier act of violence.”

In a statement, the Council further called on the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to openly condemn the actions of the Delta Forces, the Invisible Forces and any such “similar groups within their ranks, disown and dismantle them to demonstrate to Ghanaians its abhorrence to such extremist elements as a political party”


Below is the full statement:

PRESS STATEMENT

April 10, 2017 VIOLENT ATTACK ON THE JUDICIARY BY THE “DELTA FORCES” IN KUMASI
The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) wishes to join the voices of progressive democratic forces to roundly condemn the acts of criminality perpetrated against the courts and for that matter the judiciary by the so called “Delta Forces” in Kumasi following the arrest and prosecution of thirteen of their members for involvement in an earlier act of violence.

To say the least, the Council sees the latest action by the Delta Forces as the highest act of contempt on our judiciary and a serious threat to our democracy, which must be nipped in the bud before they turn into a monster of unexploded political ordinances ready to explode on our faces in a few years to come if we fail to deal with it collectively as a nation.

For the President of the Republic to publicly condemn the acts of these groups as criminals while addressing Parliament and recently in Kumasi in the presence of the Otumfuor, Asantehene and his call on the Police Service to act, attests to the seriousness of this cancer of political vigilantism in Ghana.

As a Council, we are appalled at some individuals within the ruling party, including a sitting Member of Parliament, whose tacit support and actions seems to be providing oxygen for these criminal elements to carry out these acts of impunity, having the potential of not only casting a slur on their own party leadership and government but undermining the authority of the Presidency, thus eroding the confidence and goodwill that Ghanaians have reposed in the new administration.

While it is gratifying to note that the Ashanti Regional Police Command has taken the necessary steps in not only arresting some of those criminal elements who attacked the court and the Judge, but have rearrested the original thirteen Delta Force members standing trial, we urge them to ensure their successful prosecution to serve as a deterrent to those contemplating similar actions and also to restore the Police’s battered image in the eyes of the ordinary Ghanaian.

We also call on the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to openly condemn the actions of the Delta Forces, the Invisible Forces and any such similar groups within their ranks, disown and dismantle them to demonstrate to Ghanaians its abhorrence to such extremist elements as a political party.
The Council wishes to assure the entire Judiciary of its unflinching support in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities in safeguarding the rule of law without fear of threats and intimidations.

The GPCC wish to finally call on all stakeholders and the general public, including the media to remain resolute in our fight against such groups that tend to undermine our security, especially that of the judiciary, which is the last bastion and hope of our democracy. God bless us all and make our nation great and strong.

Long Live Ghana! Long Live our Democracy!

Issued on behalf of the GPCC National Executive Council (NEC) by:

Samuel Y. Antwi (Apostle)