NPP AND NDC ARE CREATING “BOKO HARAM” IN GHANA

The Progressive People’s Party wishes to signal the alarm or the warning that the two political parties of NPP and NDC are nurturing and growing political fundamentalism in Ghana. The PPP is strong in this conviction in the wake of the disturbing incidence of violence at the NPP headquarters on Tuesday. The NPP head office siege was not the first of its kind in resolving intra-party and inter-party conflicts in Ghana.

The NPP head office incident was disgraceful, shameful, disappointing and it demonstrates a lowering of standards in our political engagement. The attack on the party office was a reflection of the rejection of reason, common sense and lawful procedure in conflict resolution in Ghana especially when politics is at stake. This is even more worrying when it related to members of the same political family. Could we imagine what will happen to Ghanaians when the conflict is inter-party?

These acts of criminality and impudence happen with impunity without the law enforcers doing their work and no condemnation from the political leadership who are the direct beneficiaries of this violent and barbaric behaviour. This is the beginning of “Boko Haram” in Ghana.

This latest episode should serve as a big lesson for Ghanaians to reject these two political parties as a demonstration of our abhorrence and disapproval of this show of force, cutlasses, clubs and offensive weapons in a bid to correct a perceived wrongdoing.

Today, the PPP remains the most credible and aggressive political party and the only party which can bring sustainable development for all Ghanaians. This was and is abundantly clear in our attitude during the 2012 elections campaign and post 2012 elections. We have systematically distinguished ourselves as a party genuinely committed to engage the Ghanaian electorate with pragmatic and progressive policy alternatives for the effective administration of our dear country. We have proven to be leaders!

This current incident should be seen in the light of the winner-takes-all governance system. The PPP’s strong advocacy for institutional reforms to reduce the powers of the president by introducing amendments to the 1992 Constitution that will make three critical changes for progress in Ghana should be taken seriously before we all collectively plunge Ghana into chaos. These are our proposals:

1. Prohibit Members of Parliament from being appointed as Minsters of State
2. Return power to the people for all Ghanaians to directly elect their district, municipal and metropolitan chief executives without any interference from the President
3. Strengthen the office of Attorney-General by separating it from the Ministry of Justice;
We should be wide Awake and keep watching.

Kofi Asamoah-Siaw
National Secretary