Minority Leader, Esseku condemn Mills... Over his recent outburst

An elder of the opposition New Patiotic Party (NPP), Mr. Harona Esseku and the Minority Leader, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu have described President Mills' emotional outburst against the Minority as laughable.

The Presidential Spokesperson, Mr. Mahama Ayariga has rationalised his boss' stern statements when he met the leadership of the Ghana Journalists Association at the Castle, Osu, on Monday, that it could be a response to the Press conference held recently by the Minority in Parliament.

Mr. Esseku said it was wrong for the President to base his attack on the Press conference. “What the Minority said, they have every right to say so, the President said he is the father of all, and if you are the father of all and there is a breach of security in the town and some of us are being intimidated, it is our duty to criticize you and there is nothing wrong with that,” he stressed.

Mr. Esseku told The Chronicle in an interview that it was needless for President Mills to remind Ghanaians that there was only one President in the country, since his position was not in contention.

The Minority leader in Parliament, Hon. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu also told Joy FM yesterday that the statement of the President was unfortunate and that he should walk the talk that he was 'father of all', by urging his men to discontinue the assaults being meted out to NPP supporters.

He said during the reign of President Kufuor, former President Rawlings was quoted on numerous occasions calling for positive defiance against President Kufuor's government, but the opposition then did not see anything wrong. Referring to the press conference in question that might have led to the outburst of President Mills, the Minority leader said they spoke about instances of victimization, intimidation and assault against the supporters of NPP.

He emphasized that the minority reminded President Mills to indeed implement his promise that he would be 'Father of All,' adding that they resolved to resort to all legal means to protect their supporters if the attacks did not stop.

He maintained that just before the 2008 elections, the National Democratic Congress led by the then Candidate Mills came out with a statement that they felt intimidated, with one of their members going to the extend of disclosing on air how he had to carry a gun to a an FM station for protection against any attack.

According to him, although members of the public condemned him for such an act, the NDC man insisted that he was entitled to carry a licensed gun and even enjoyed the support of his party members through a press statement that was issued.

“Today, if we say that we will advise ourselves- we mean we will resort to all legal means to protect ourselves and our supporters, and people say that it is an affront to the authority of the President,” he bemoaned.

He said their press conference was just a wake up call for President Mills to exercise his authority by protecting everyone in the country.