Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the Minister of State in Charge of Government Communications, has fired shots at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority Caucus in parliament.
According to Kwakye Ofosu, the NPP endorsed violence and is today calling for investigations into acts of violence.
He emphasised that those who condemned violence in the past and are doing so now are the ones to call for an investigation.
Kwakye Ofosu asserted that the NPP normalised electoral violence during their eight years in office.
The lawmaker further called on the NPP minority to demonstrate sincerity and consistency.
Speaking on the floor of parliament, Kwakye Ofosu stated, “A party that endorsed violence during elections cannot come today and call for investigations into acts of violence. It is those of us who condemned it in the past and are condemning it today who can make such a call.
“Their officials are on record as having vowed that there will be violence in Akwatia. Even as they call for action to be taken, they are threatening violence,” he stated.
The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, also added, “I have experienced them in real violent situations in elections. The week before this last election, there were persistent gunshots in my constituency, and I couldn’t even come out of my house. Persistent, not what you people are doing. Not this child’s play at Ablekuma. This is children playing”.
Nevertheless, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, condemned the majority leader’s remark.
Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah stated, “Today, we are being told that what happened in Ablekuma North is child’s play, and it is coming from the Majority Leader. A journalist was slapped, and we are saying it’s child’s play? A woman was assaulted, and we are saying it is child’s play? We are not surprised.
Are we saying to the many children who are watching us that when we promised the people of this country reset, we were going to pursue retributive politics? This is not what you promised,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the minority in parliament are demanding the removal of Dr Hannah Bissiw-Kotei and Malik Basintale for allegedly endorsing violence during the Ablekuma North election re-run.
The NPP minority is demanding that John Mahama remove Dr Hanna Louisa Bisiw-Kotei from the position of Administrator of the Minerals Development Fund.
Also, the removal of Malik Basintale as the Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).
According to the minority, the two government appointees celebrated and endorsed the violence that happened at the Ablekuma North rerun.
Speaking to the media in Accra on Wednesday, July 16, the Atiwa West MP, Laurette Korkor, stated, “President Mahama must immediately dismiss Dr. Hanna Louisa Bissiw from her position as CEO of the Minerals Development Fund and Malik Basintale from his role as Acting CEO of the Youth.
Employment Agency. Their celebration and justification of violence against opposition figures disqualify them from holding any public office. This dismissal must happen to demonstrate that the government does not condone political violence,” The Minority demanded.
She added, “Both officials hold senior positions in President Mahama’s government, and their inflammatory rhetoric actively undermines Ghana’s democratic institutions. Their words embolden further lawlessness and signal to potential perpetrators that violence will be excused, justified, and even celebrated by the governing party.
“Such statements from public officials charged with upholding the rule of law are fundamentally incompatible with democratic governance and constitute a direct threat to Ghana’s constitutional order,” The Minority stated.
The minority cited Dr. Bisiw-Kotei’s remark, which stated, “violence begets violence”, and also Malik Basintale’s post on Facebook saying, “Flying Python and appoint him to head a 5K Airforce.”
Background
Chaos that erupted at the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun on Friday, July 11.
A group of unidentified men stormed the Methodist church polling centre, disrupting the process and creating chaos.
The machomen stormed the polling station in a coordinated manner, causing panic among voters and electoral officials.
The former lawmaker Hawa Koomson was assaulted.
In a viral video of the chaotic scene, Hawa Koomson was kicked in the groin and fell to the ground with the thugs kicking her on the ground until the police intervened.
Despite the number of police officers at the scene, they were unable to prevent the chaos.
