Politics of Friday, 20 February 2009

Source: GNA

Bring NDC supporters to order- President Mills urged

Tamale, Feb. 20, GNA - The Northern Regional Branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has appealed to President John Evans Atta Mills, to call to order supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Tamale Metropolis to prevent further violence and the loss of lives and the destruction of property.

The party hierarchy said they were ready to co-operate with the security agencies and other stakeholders, to ensure that normalcy was restored to the Metropolis.

Mr Issahaku Faisal Gbangili, Acting Regional Secretary of the NPP, who made the call at a press conference in Tamale, on Thursday, also appealed to the police to arrest all the perpetrators of the violence and let them face the due process of the law. On Tuesday February 17 and following day, violence broke out between supporters of the two parties' in the Metropolis, which led to the death of one person and the destruction of property worth several millions of cedis.

The clashes were said to have been sparked off by utterances of a guest talk show programme at a local FM Station. Mr Gbangili expressed concern about reports carried by some sections of the media which created the impression that it was NPP supporters who instigated the recent violence and appealed to the media to be fair, balanced and circumspect when reporting on cases of political violence.

The acting NPP Regional Secretary said the aftermath of the two days of violence had led to the burning of over 20 houses belonging to known NPP loyalists and the displacement of about 120 NPP supporters.