Dan Botwe Raises Alarm

Dan Botwe

THE NEW Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere in the Eastern Region, Dan Kweku Botwe, has expressed worry that the 2012 general elections will be characterized by violence.

He said though he is not an alarmist, events that have taken place during recent bye-elections in the country demonstrate that the forthcoming national elections will be conducted in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

“I do not in any way wish a bad omen for the country, but if what we have witnessed at Chereponi, Akwatia and Atiwa in recent times is any measure of what was in store for the country in 2012, then I am afraid,” the one-time Information Minister noted.

Speaking on Hello FM, the Okere legislator stated, “I am at a shock at the level of violence that has characterized all the three bye-elections that have taken place since the National Democratic Congress (NDC) assumed power.”

The former general secretary of the biggest opposition party accused the ruling party of instigating all the violence that occurred during the three bye-elections which have been conducted in the country in the past 18 months.

Hon Botwe claimed that leading members of the ruling party who take delight in fomenting trouble fund the so-called 'azorka' boys to brew trouble anytime there is an election, with the view of intimidating voters.

According to him, it is one of the devilish means the ruling party uses to frighten voters who are perceived to be loyal to the NPP, so as to steal the verdict of the people anytime an election is conducted.

“If Ministers and leading members of a ruling party can lead a group of thugs who have gained notoriety for their violent behaviour to cause trouble at election centers, then we are heading for a big trouble,” he reiterated.

The NPP MP also accused the police of kowtowing to the whims and caprices of the ruling party; a development he noted contributed to the increasing cases of violence in the recent bye-elections.

“How can a police man stay aloof while 'azorka' boys who are armed to the teeth brutalize people because they have resisted their attempt to snatch ballot boxes,” the Okere MP observed.

It would be recollected that all the three bye-elections, starting from Chereponi to Akwatia and to the recent one at Atiwa, have all been dominated by violence, leading to people sustaining varying degrees of injuries.

In the Chereponi bye-election in the Northern Region, several people believed to be supporters of the NPP were brutalized by thugs suspected to be loyal to the ruling party. So was the situation at Akwatia in the Eastern Region.

The Akwatia episode was so deadly that scores of NPP supporters were beaten mercilessly whilst others were shot and maimed by thugs allegedly sent to the constituency by the ruling party.

Though some of the rampaging thugs were arrested by the police, the alleged criminals were made to go scot free as they were not arraigned in court for the law to deal appropriately with them.

Many people were not surprised at the turn of events in that bye-election because Baba Jamal, the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister who contested the polls on the ticket of the ruling party, had declared 'Jihad', which means 'holy war', ahead of the polls.

In the just ended bye-election in the Atiwa Constituency, a group of NPP supporters sustained varying degrees of injuries when a car being driven by NDC's National Women's Organiser, Anita De-Souza, ran over them.

Reports indicated that the eccentric NDC national women's organizer deliberately ordered her driver to run over the NPP supporters, who had erected a temporary roadblock to prevent the 'azorka' boys from entering the town to cause their intended mayhem. From Morgan Owusu, Kumasi