Election 2024: NDC’s Mustapha Gbande under Police investigation for inciting violence comment
For making some comments in a radio interview, allegedly aimed at inciting violence during the 2024 general elections, the Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, is under police investigations.
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Speaking in a radio interview on Accra-based Okay FM, Gbande advised voters to show up at polling stations armed with guns and cutlasses.
Mustapha Gbande based his comments on what he described as a poorly conducted District Level Elections by the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare referring to them as failures.
“Is this a dress rehearsal for 2024," he questioned and said, "then going into the [2024] elections, we’ll put guns into our pockets. If that’s the way they’ll go.”
Following pressure from the interviewer to clarify his position, Mustapha Gbande explained that voters had to be prepared at all times to protect their votes on the day of elections.
Citing various examples, which he said had made the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) unpopular following the 2020 general elections, he insinuated that the NPP were a violent sect who would do anything to secure an electoral victory.
Therefore, he said; “I have told my superiors that if possible, let’s prepare twice for the NPP and wait for them. If you’re going to a polling station, put a cutlass in your pocket. That way, no one will misbehave towards you,” to buttress his point.
In response to the Mustapha Gbande’s comment, the Ghana Police Service issued a statement confirming the commencement of an investigation involving Gbande.
The statement stressed that the police were committed to upholding the law and maintaining peace and security in the country.
“The Police will continue to work with other sister security agencies diligently and patriotically to maintain the peace and security in our country which has made Ghana a beacon of hope on the continent and beyond,” it said.
The statement assured the public that no one would be allowed to undermine the peace, security, law and order in the country.