Political parties have been advised to take critical lessons from the circumstances leading to the murder of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Upper East Regional Chairman, Adam Mahama.
They have also been challenged to denounce members who carry out criminal activities by treating such individuals as criminals and also allow the law to take its course.
[contextly_sidebar id=”xnPSAJ7R6uYuaiG7xajX4bIcp5wNcG6e”]This was contained in a statement from the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) in response to the acid attack on Adam Mahama which resulted in his death on Thursday.
Although CDD-Ghana indicated that it is gratifying that the leadership of both the NPP and governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) have condemned this latest incident, the Center expressed concerns that perpetrators of such election-related violence in the past “have gone unpunished, and in many instances are condoned (and not reprimanded) by political party leadership.”
The Center observed that such acts undermine efforts being made to promote peace, stability, good governance and the consolidation of democracy in Ghana.
It expressed the hope that those who perpetrated carried out the acid attack on Adam Mahama will be apprehended, “treated as criminals, prosecuted and punished to serve as a deterrent to future perpetrators of similar acts.”
“The Center is thus encouraged by the fact that the Ghana Police Service is investigating what appears to be a politically motivated crime, and is confident the criminals will be apprehended.
“As the Ghana Police Service conducts its investigations into the matter, CDD-Ghana urges all political parties to draw lessons from this incident, albeit unfortunate, to foster the democratic spirit of contestation of ideas instead of the use of violence in resolving differences.”
CDD-Ghana however appealed to the family and supporters of Adam Mahama to remain calm and cooperate with the Police in its investigations.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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