Former President John Dramani Mahama, has condemned the activities of vigilante groups affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
At a meeting with former appointees who served under his administration, the former President was dismayed over what he said was President Nana Addo’s failure to crack the whip on members of these groups, who according to him, are also attacking NDC members.
“If you cannot look for vehicles in a more civilized manner than having troops going into people’s houses, breaking down their gates and say you are looking for vehicles, you cannot go to DVLA and look through the database and find out what government vehicles are available then what kind of efficiency do we have in government? Just this morning I heard Agyekum’s House was raided… And they[NPP] will always come back and apologize because those are not vehicles that belong to the state.
“…Government is saying they cannot look for an efficient manner of looking for vehicles than forming storm troops to raid people’s house, and I think that it is wrong. I am going to have the opportunity to tell Nana Addo that they should stop this… This cannot continue, this thuggery is not good for our country, and the point is we thought we had a good transition …This [incident] serves as examples that make it difficult in future when there is another transition for another government to restrain party supporters. All the thuggery removing people from office, beating people is unfortunate. We must say it in the strongest terms and if the heed it fine, if they don’t, it is a learning process for our whole country.”
The former President’s comments come months after he directed the security agencies to arrest supporters of the NPP, who were reportedly attacking NDC members days after the former won the 2016 elections.
Hold your heads high; NDC did a lot for Ghana – Mahama
The former President also asked the former appointees to hold their heads high, since in his view, his government embarked on various projects that signified efficiency and competence.
“In the monumental achievements that we chalked, I believe that you must hold your heads high because that government did a lot for this country, and I believe that posterity will be the judge eventually. We did a lot to improve infrastructure of the country, and often infrastructure is a thing people take for granted. It is possible to be in the opposition and criticize. We should not feel depressed or feel ashamed about our service in government was outstanding. We must continue to defend the legacy of that government.
He also emphasized the need for the party to “regroup, refocus and go back into battle.”
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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