Comments by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda that supporters and members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) present at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium for the party’s 2016 campaign launch should shout the elephant – the symbol of the main opposition New Patriotic Party – into the Ivorian forest, should be condemned by all, Mr Irbard Ibrahim, a security analyst and peace ambassador for the 2016 polls, has said.

Mr Dauda made the comment because the flag bearer of the NPP, Nana Addo Dabkwa Akufo Addo is currently campaigning in the Western Region, which is bordered by La Cote d’Ivoire.

Speaking on Sunday August 14 at the venue, Mr Dauda said: “I have heard that the Elephant is in the Western Region, meaning it has drawn closer to the forest in the Ivory Coast. When we shout, it [the elephant] will get into the forest without coming out again, and, so, we are shouting on top of our voices in order to drive away the elephant into the Ivorian forest.”

But speaking in an interview with Class FM’s Emefa Apawu in Cape Coast, Mr Ibrahim, who is at the campaign launch by virtue of being a peace ambassador for the elections, said: “I believe moving forward as a country, these are some of the forms of intemperate utterances we need to avoid and, so, it has been a low for me, but the day is still young. We are to take a potpourri of speeches from all party leaders, but this has been a very bad utterance from a security point of view, analysing the things that may precipitate and stoke instability in the country.”

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