NDC condemns alleged assault on Citi FM reporter, DCOP (Rtd) Opare Addo

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Ghana’s largest opposition party has called out the Akufo-Addo-led government following growing attacks on citizens by state security.

The National Democratic Congress in a press statement cited the recent assault on Citi FM‘s Caleb Kudah as well attempts to forcibly remove the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, DCOP (Rtd) Kwaku Ayensu Opare Addo from office by some persons, describing the developments as a “dangerous erosion of the [country’s] democracy.”

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this degradation of our democracy by the Akufo-Addo government. We condemn the continuous abuse of our rights protected by the Constitution by the marauding and wayward administration of President Akufo-Addo.”

In the statement issued by its General Secretary of the NDC, John Asiedu Nketiah on Sunday, the party said the recent events stem from how similar events were handled in the past.

“The genesis of these trends is not hard to identify. [It began from] The needless invasion by state-sponsored vigilantes of the voting process during the Ayawaso Bye-election in January 2019, the virtual militarization of the registration of voters process last year, and the unprecedented violence that accompanied the election proper last December, culminating in the untimely death of eight innocent Ghanaian citizens are known”.

It said government has been emboldened to allow such incidents occur due to the silence of Ghanaians on the past events.

“In the brutish assault of Mr. Caleb Kudah of Citi FM and the harassment of his colleague, Ms. Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo, the Akufo-Addo government has now demonstrated clearly that it does not believe in the rule of law nor common human decency, as the continued presence of Deputy Superintendent of Police Samuel Kojo Azugu in the National Security apparatus and the brutish conduct of Lt. Colonel Agyemang fly totally in the face of the solemn recommendations of the Emile Short Commission of Inquiry. And as if these events are not enough, elements of the much dreaded NPP vigilante group, the Delta Force actually raided the office of the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator and handcuffed him, claiming that his tenure of office had come to an end,” the party stated.

Some operatives of National Security last Tuesday arrested and assaulted Citi FM’s Caleb Kudah after they found him filming abandoned state-funded vehicles parked at the premises of the Ministry of National Security.

The operatives subsequently besieged Citi FM to arrest another journalist, Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo who received the materials captured by Caleb.

No charge has been proffered against the two.

The NDC says it will continue to challenge such developments while urging President Akufo-Addo to respect the rights and welfare of citizens.

“We shall not sit unconcerned as the President lurches from one scandal to the other. Ghana and Ghanaians deserve far better,” it concluded.

Read the full statement below:
STATEMENT ON THE ATTACK BY NATIONAL SECURITY PERSONNEL AGAINST JOURNALISTS.

The National Democratic Congress has noted with concern recent attacks on journalists from the Citi FM and the Ashanti Regional Coordinator by National Security personnel and vigilante elements in Kumasi.

Coming in the heels of the invasion of Parliament by the military during the election of the Speaker, these developments portend a dangerous erosion of the democracy that all our citizens have come to cherish since the inception of the 4th Republic in January, 1993.

The genesis of these trends is not hard to identify. The needless invasion by state-sponsored vigilantes of the voting process during the Ayawaso Bye-election in January 2019, the virtual militarization of the registration of voters process last year, and the unprecedented violence that accompanied the election proper last December, culminating in the untimely death of eight innocent Ghanaian citizens.

Many were our citizens who erroneously decided to remain quiet because they assumed that we in the NDC were making unnecessary political noises. For those of our citizens who formed that opinion, their silence only served to encourage the Akufo-Addo government that Ghanaians are weak and do not care enough about our democracy.

The sycophantic elements in society who descended heavily on Sir Sam Jonah for speaking up on the sorry state of Ghana’s democracy must be revising their notes by now.

In the brutish assault of Mr. Caleb Kudah of Citi FM and the harassment of his colleague, Ms. Zoe Abu-Baidoo, the Akufo-Addo government has now demonstrated clearly that it does not believe in the rule of law nor common human decency, as the continued presence of Deputy Superintendent of Police Samuel Kojo Azugu in the National Security apparatus and the brutish conduct of Lt. Colonel Agyemang fly totally in the face of the solemn recommendations of the Emil Short Commission of Inquiry.

And as if these events are not enough, elements of the much dreaded NPP vigilante group, the Delta Force actually raided the office of the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator and handcuffed him, claiming that his tenure of office had come to an end.

It is this unprecedented attack on the people of Ghana and the apparent helplessness or connivance of the President and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo that threatens the foundation of our democracy and the well being of our fellow country men and women.

Accordingly we condemn in the strongest possible terms this degradation of our democracy by the Akufo-Addo government. We condemn the continuous abuse of our rights protected by the Constitution by the marauding and wayward administration of President Akufo-Addo.

We have a right to live in safety and security as we go about our daily lives. We have a right to live and breath under this regime even in the face of the challenging economic situation brought about by the unbelievable incompetence of the Akufo-Addo government.

We shall not sit idly by as President Akufo-Addo takes our citizens for granted, even as he has demonstrated utter cluelessness in attending to the welfare of Ghanaians.

We urge the President to sit up and do the work for which he was allegedly elected to do. He must do that work with full respect for our rights and welfare. We shall not sit unconcerned as the President lurches from one scandal to the other. Ghana and Ghanaians deserve far better.

LONG LIVE THE NDC
LONG LIVE GHANA

ISSUED IN ACCRA ON I6TH MAY, 2021

………
(HON. JOHNSON ASIEDU-NKETIAH)
GENERAL SECRETARY

Source: Daily Mail GH with additional files from CNR