NPP must act responsibly or face political doom

I would not lose sleep over the opposition New Patriotic Party's protest against the arrest of one of its spokespersons on radio. Their call for the release of Nana Darkwa, who on a local radio talk show savagely accused former president Rawlings of torching his own residence, is not just disingenuous but treasonable.

The savage remarks and subsequent arrest and remand in lawful custody of a sympathiser of the NPP and the reaction by leading members of the party are a reflection of the thinking of the leaders of the party.

At a time when the Rawlings' and well-wishers are grieving over the loss of irreplaceable documents of national interest in a fire that gutted down the residence of the NDC party founder, Nana Darkwa went on radio and accused J.J. Rawlings of arson.

The New Patriotic Party criticises simply for the sake of causing disagreement and one consistent thing about the party is elitism – they feel they are untouchable. Nana Darkwa is a man and leaders of the NPP know that a man is responsible for his actions. They allowed the pathetic cretin to go on air and “spread fear and alarm”, which in our law is criminal under Article 208, 1960 of the criminal code. And they still have the arrogance to think the law should not take its course?

The funniest part is that NPP spokespersons and syndicated journalists are accusing the government of President Mills of losing cases in the courts. There is completely no common sense and logic in these kinds of arguments. If the courts are being used by government as they allege, people like Asamoah Boateng and his wife who have been indicted wouldn't be walking freely.

The manipulation of the justice system by the NPP to get certain outcome in cases against its main political rival as seen in the Tsatsu Tsikata trial pales in comparison to what they are accusing the Mills led government of. Their cries over the arrest of Nana Darkwa are malicious and based on ignorance of the law. NPP is anchored in a tradition that believes in chicanery and intimidation and the party would do anything to embarrass the ruling NDC government.

If leading opposition figures continue to exhibit this kind of irresponsibility, then a political doom hangs over them.

I can forgive them for their ignorance in interpreting the law because they are still nursing their bruises over their loss of the last general elections, but I cannot forgive them when they want to do things their way or no way. When it suits them, they cry rule of law.

There are two ways to settle this, behave like a responsible opposition or face the consequences of your irresponsibility. Some of their members have made all sorts of threats I cannot repeat in print, but I would encourage government preserve national security. Government must not tolerate subversive activity in any form and should not hesitate to act ruthlessly if subversive methods are used to undermine the state.

Credit: Ras Mubarak
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