Politics of Thursday, 10 August 2017

Source: Daniel Kaku

Kenya Elections: NPP condemns treatment meted out to Peter Mac Manu, Evans Nimako

John Boadu John Boadu

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described the deportation of its former campaign manager in the 2016 elections, Mr Peter Mac Manu and Mr Evans Nimako, an NPP activist by the Kenyan authorities as repugnant, dehumanizing and unacceptable.

In a press statement issued by its Acting General Secretary, Mr John Boadu on August 9, 2017 cited by Daniel Kaku indicated that no Ghanaian citizen deserves such bizarre treatment especially from a fellow sub-Saharan African country, where there exists a "relaxed immigration dispensation" to facilitate the movement of people among member states.

Below is the full the statement;

NPP Condemns the treatment meted out to PeterMac Manu by Kenyan Authorities

The NPP has received with utter shock and dismay, news of the deportation of its former campaign manager in the 2016 elections, Peter Mac Manu and Evans Nimako, an activist of the party by the Kenyan authorities and government by extension.

Our information is that, the duo were not even allowed to "disembark" from the plane that took them to Kenya and were compelled by the authorities to board the next available flight back to Ghana.

This, we find most repugnant, dehumanizing and UNACCEPTABLE. As such, the party condemns same with all vehemence.

No Ghanaian citizen deserves such bizarre treatment especially from a fellow sub-Saharan African country, where there exists a "relaxed immigration dispensation" to facilitate the movement of people among member States. It is even more worrying that in this particular instance, we are talking about a leading political figure in Ghana, who also happens to be a former National Chairman and 2016 Campaign Manager of the governing party in Ghana, the NPP.

We wish to however state for the records that, the delegation led by Peter Mac Manu did NOT travel to Kenya on the ticket of the NPP; neither was it representing the interest of the party in Kenya. They went there at the behest of the Democratic Union of Africa (DUA), of which Peter Mac Manu is the Honorary Chair, ostensibly to observe the Kenyan elections on behalf of the Union. The Democratic Union of Africa is the African charter of the International Democrat Union (IDU), which is the global alliance of all centre-right political parties including the NPP. It is also worthy of note that Peter Mac Manu is a Vice Chair of the IDU.

It is also a fact that election monitoring and observation in any country by international organizations such as the IDU and DUA is a standard practice worldwide since the world is a Global Village. That is why we find the actions of the Kenyan authorities as very grotesque and a diplomatic anathema which has the propensity to mar the otherwise fine relationship between the two countries if not handled with care. No matter the reservations the Kenyans had with respect to the Mac Manu-led DUA delegation, they could have handled it diplomatically and with candour.

Finally, the NPP, in view of the foregoing, is demanding explanations from the Kenyan authorities regarding the conduct meted out to the delegation from the Democratic Union of Africa (DUA) and in particular, Peter Mac Manu, the triumphant 2016 campaign manager of the party. We are also serving notice that, the party would explore every available avenue within the diplomatic cycles to get to the bottom of this matter.

Thank you.

...Signed...

John Boadu General Secretary (Ag)