Civil Society Groups Condemn Assin MP

Civil Society Groups in the country have condemned the utterances of the Member of Parliamentary (MP) of Assin North, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong.

They, however, called on the leadership of the political parties, particularly the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress to publicly reprimand and sanction their supporters who insult, incite and malign their political opponents.

Addressing the media on Wednesday in Accra on the current political situation in Ghana, a member of the group, Mrs Dwamena Aboagye, observed that such utterances if not brought under effective control could undermine the peace, stability, security and unity in the country and ‘’ damage Ghana’s hard-earned international image as one of Africa’s thriving democratic nation’’.

It was organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) in collaboration with the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS), West African Network for Peace building (WANEP), African Security Dialogue and Research (ASDR), Office of the chief Imam, Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), Ghana Trade Union Congress (TUC), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition ( GACC).

The others included, Women in law and Development in Africa (WILDAF), the Ark Foundation, Abantu for Development, West African Civil Society institute and the National Association and Charismatic and Christian Churches (NACCC).

‘’ These two political parties act in a way that undermine the professionalism of the police, which they both want to control and manipulate. In situations where the police have acted in fulfilment of their mandate and arrested suspects, the NPP and NDC have mobilised their supporters to invade the premises of the police in Accra and the region.’’ she said.

Mrs Dwamena Aboagye explained that the recent happenings of the ongoing biometric voters registration characterised had brought unnecessary tension and put fear in many people, stressing ‘’ some citizens have also been unlawfully denied their right to register based on either ethnicity or an allegation that they are not ordinary resident in the registration area.

‘’ The NDC and NPP must respect the autonomy and integrity of the police and other security agencies as important institutions of the state that must be given the scope to discharge their functions professionally and impartially at all times’’ she advocated.

Touching on violence, the group called on President Mills as the chairman of the national security council to demonstrate strong commitment to the safety of all women and men, adding ‘’ the president must refrain from making public pronouncements that directly or indirectly reinforce the pervasive public mistrust in the professionalism of the police’’.

They also called on media owners, particularly the radio stations, to ensure quality control over the content of their programmes at all times, urging the television station to play videos on the ethno-political and electoral violence in Rwanda, Kenya, Liberia and Sierra Leone to raise the awareness of the need for peace and unity.

‘’ The primary responsibility of the broad range of state institutions and all citizens of Ghana is to uphold the rule of law in the national interest and ensure through their actions and utterances the peace and stability of this country’’ she said.