MPs condemn attacks,seizures after elections
Members of Parliament (MPs) Friday condemned the physical attacks, seizure and destruction of property perpetrated by supporters of ruling political parties after elections in the country.
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They said such actions were criminal and should not be allowed to fester in the country's body politic.
They, therefore, urged the police to deal with the perpetrators as criminals and not to kowtow to political influence to shirk their responsibility to maintain law and order.
Earlier, the legislators engaged in a blame game as to which political party was more culpable in terms of closing its eyes to the thuggery after elections.
Several instances of violence in the past were cited by the Majority and Minority sides, which generated a lot of objections and banging on tables.
The heated debate forced the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, who was chairing the proceedings, to intermittently impress on the members to speak with one voice in condemning the act.
The contributions on the issue of violence followed statements made by the MP for Sagnarigu, Alhaji Alhassan Bashir Fuseini, on the "Acts of violence and destruction of property by thugs in the Sagnarigu District and Tamale Metropolis" and the MP for Nhyiaeso Constituency, Mr Kennedy Kankam, on "Seizure of public facilities in theaftermath of elections".
Alhaji Fuseini, who is a former Deputy Northern Regional Minister, said recent developments in the country as a whole and in the Sagnarigu District and Tamale Metropolis in respect of lawlessness by a bunch of hoodlums in particular posed a threat to the country's democratic achievements.
He referred to an incident last week in the Sagnarigu District and the Tamale Metropolis where "unruly marauding mobs ran amok, vandalized the offices of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the Youth Employment Agency((YEA), assaulted and wounded clients who had come to patronise their services, also vandalised properties and looted the vault of cash and other precious items."
Alhaji Fusein said that was the second time in two weeks that those kinds of lawless acts were unleashed on the people of the Sagnarigu District and Tamale Metropolis without any iota of provocation.
The statement by Mr Kankam, which mentioned some personalities in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as supporting violent acts in the past, attracted more objections from the
Minority side. He claimed that the Chairman of the NDC, Mr Kofi Portuphy, was one of the principal persons who conducted the foot soldiers of the party to descend on institutions in 2009.
Besides, he said, formerministers who acquired their official vehicles and surrendered to the state eight years ago, were not given a refund.
But the leaders of both made reconciliatory remarks that brought some understanding and closure on the issue.
Minority Chief Whip
The Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka-Mubarak, said there was no sense in attacking even a single Ghanaian, and blamed leaders for allowing such hooliganism to fester.
For instance, he said, it was worrying the kind of treatment meted out to public officials as if they were criminals, besides the seizure of cars.
Alhaji Muntaka-Mubarak stressed the need for the House to show leadership by condemning the acts of
violence. He said the harassment or destruction of property "doesn't show strength, unity and does not help us to build strong institutions."
Majority Leader
The Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said he supported the call for Parliament to start the business of reconciliation on the issue of violence after elections.
However, he said, similar events had happened in the past but nothing was done to deal with the perpetrators, saying "what was wrong yesterday, is wrong today."
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the police believed that when there was a change of guard, the rules changed.
He stressed the need for the country to fortify its institutions, and "not to allow them to bend in favour of others."
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stressed the need for the police "to act decisively to send the rightful message that this cannot be allowed to happen.