The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described as “insulting,” claims that it instigated the residents of Old Fadama to demonstrate against government on Monday.
The NPP argued that the Old Fadama residents whose structures and properties were destroyed in last Saturday’s demolition exercise reacted on their own volition.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Q7qq7yTYXFu945KpdM2tQCTNrpxC8msi”]NPP’s Communications Director, Nana Akomea in an interview with Citi News said: “You are actually insulting them by saying to them that they don’t know what they are doing, they don’t have any minds of their own and that they are being manipulated by some people.”
Thousands of angry Old Fadama residents took to the streets of Accra to express their displeasure at the decision by the government to forcibly eject them from their places of abode near the Odaw River and the Korle Lagoon by demolishing their structures.
The demonstration turned violent as they pelted the Police and some journalists with stones and chased them with clubs.
Some Policemen were reported to have sustained injuries while Police vehicles were also vandalized.
They then proceeded to the State House where they peeled off the coat of arms at the entrance, broke a number of flower pots and broke the windscreen of some of the buses parked at the premises.
The Deputy Local Government Minister, Nii Lante Vanderpuye has however accused the NPP of instigating the residents to demonstrate.
Vanderpuye, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Odododiodio justified his accusation with the explanation that about 20 of the protesters were wearing NPP T-shirts.
Reacting to these claims, Nana Akomea remarked that government’s response to the incident is regrettable.
“You are blaming somebody sitting somewhere as the person who is manipulating them,” he said, adding that “you can’t even show sympathy for the plight of these people, the plight of the current situation they find themselves in.”
According to him, Mr. Vanderpuye’s claims that some NPP youth wearing party T-shirts were among the protestors cannot justify his comments.
“This is the attitude of people in government; it is a shame and when you ask them for evidence, they say that they were wearing NPP T shirt!”
Nana Akomea pointed out that party T-shirts are not restricted items because iff you go to the market, you can buy NPP T-shirt, you can buy NDC T-shirt. If you go to the NPP office, there are hawkers there who are selling T-shirts.”
“In any case, the demonstrators from Sodom and Gomorrah; some of them were wearing NDC T-shirts so for the deputy Minister to make such a statement shows that the NDC government is constantly thinking backwards.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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