NPC condemns attack on state properties
The National Peace Council (NPC) has condemned attacks on state properties and some personalities by some youth associated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and asked the police to deal with the perpetrators as criminals, not as party supporters.
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In an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, the Chairman of the NPC, the Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, urged political leaders not to interfere with the police in their investigations and prosecution of the individuals involved in the crime.
He said it was crucial for the police to be given the free hand to prosecute the perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others.
“The police must not treat it as a political or party issue but as an issue of law and order and bring the perpetrators to book. We should not politicise it but give it the proper tag,” he said.
Following the declaration of the NPP flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the President-elect of Ghana, some jubilant youth dressed in NPP paraphernalia have been reported to have taken over or destroyed state properties, including toll booths and places of convenience.
In the latest incident, some youth associated with the NPP last Monday attempted to forcibly take over the management of the toll booth at the Tema end of the Tema-Accra Motorway.
A similar incident occurred at the Afienya toll booth on the Tema-Akosombo road where some young people from Afienya and parts of Dawhenya attempted to take over the facility.
Categories
The Most Rev. Prof. Asante said the perpetrators of the crime could be classified into two categories and indicated that the first category could be over-jubilant supporters of the NPP.
“What has happened regarding pockets of violence could be over jubilation by individuals who have allowed emotions to override reason,” he said.
The NPC Chairman said the second group could be some criminals who hid behind the NPP paraphernalia to perpetrate their criminal agenda.
“Criminals seize the opportunity to don party paraphernalia to carry out their criminal intents,” he said, adding that some of the jubilant supporters, in their euphoria, could just find themselves drawn into the crime by the criminal characters.
He, therefore, urged the youth to be careful and not allow themselves to be used by people with criminal intent to use them to achieve their ends.
He said it was crucial for the youth to desist from destroying government properties and rather position themselves to manage those properties in the future.
He expressed happiness that the police had made some arrests and started some prosecutions and urged them to continue in that regard.
Positive signs
The Most Rev. Prof. Asante said it was important for the youth to learn from the magnanimous manner in which President John Dramani Mahama called Nana Akufo-Addo to concede defeat and the magnanimity shown by Nana Akufo-Addo in accepting the concession.
He said what the country needed now was a peaceful environment to move together as one people.
