President Mahama has condemned the violence which marred the by–election on Tuesday in Talensi in Upper East Region.
[contextly_sidebar id=”RJqHIg3LfJ7JF6xePSo8DEX3PAVtPimQ”]There were reports of clashes involving the Azorka boys and the Bolgatanga Bulldogs, known to be sympathisers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The NPP’s First Vice Chairman, Freddy Blay and other officials of the party were attacked by people they allege were members of the ruling party.
However the NDC has countered the allegations with Deputy General Secretary of the Party, Koku Anyidoho suggesting that the attack was master-minded by the loyalists of NPP’s Chairman Paul Afoko as part of an internal party dispute.
Congrats BT Baba. Violence in Talensi unacceptable. Security services must take lessons learned to ensure peaceful 2016 poll. #ChangingLives
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) July 8, 2015
However in a tweet, President Mahama called on the security agencies to learn lessons from the “unacceptable” incidents in order to prevent a recurrence in the 2016 elections.
“Congrats BT Baba. Violence in Talensi unacceptable. Security services must take lessons learned to ensure peaceful 2016 poll,” the tweet said.
‘Violence begets violence’
The Interior Minister, Mark Woyongo in an interview stated that groups would have to be licensed before they are allowed to operate as security agencies.
He, however, stopped short of condemning the violence in Talensi instead remarking that “violence begets violence.”
He insisted that Azorka’s boys would not have retaliated had they not been provoked in the first place by the Bolga Bulldogs, adding that they had a right to protect themselves.
His comments have been widely criticised by people who feel they were not befitting of an Interior Minister and there have been several calls for him to be removed from his position.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana