NDC cries foul over Ofosu Ampofo; Police to deal with issue through legal process

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has stated that it will not allow its National Chairman, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, to cooperate with the police in investigations linking him to recent kidnappings and fire outbreaks at markets.

In addition, the party said none of its former ministers and other appointees would cooperate in any inquisition on issues that took place when the party was in government.

It decried what it described as the government’s policy of harassment of former NDC ministers of state and appointees.

Addressing a press conference following a meeting of the Council of Elders of the party in Accra yesterday, the Vice-Chairman of the council, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, said: “In particular, our former ministers and appointees will no longer answer questions before the numerous inquisition panels and bodies established to harass and persecute them; neither will they respond to the numerous intrusive and oppressive questionnaires administered to them.”

He said the latest invitation extended to its National Chairman by the Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in relation to kidnappings and fire outbreaks at various parts of the country was yet another case of intimidation and harassment being employed by the government, through the police, to instill fear in

Mr Ofosu Ampofo and supporters of the party.

Non-compliance

Alhaji Iddrisu said Mr Ofosu Ampofo was not under any compulsion or obligation to assist the police in their investigations.

“He has no assistance to render to the CID as far as this matter is concerned,” he said, adding that “if the CID wishes to arrest our National Chairman, they can proceed to do so. We call on all our members to show solidarity with our National Chairman in these difficult times and to ensure that his freedom and liberty is not jeopardised by any of the vigilante forces that are at the disposal of this government”.

Dissenting voices

Describing it as a clear attempt to suppress dissenting voices in the country, Alhaji Iddrisu said the prosecution of the party’s officials was malicious and intended to frustrate the work of the NDC and its mobilisation towards the 2020 elections.

He posited that the latest invitation of the chairman by the CID on the allegation that some persons picked up for interrogation and investigation in connection with the kidnapping and fire outbreaks had mentioned Mr Ofosu Ampofo as being involved was a “a sinister fabrication and lie conjured by the police” to divert attention from the growing lawlessness and violent crimes in the country.

That situation, he said, stemmed out of the failure of the government to fashion out a robust security policy that guaranteed the safety of Ghanaians.

Undermining democracy

According to him, those acts by the government and the police had the potential to undermine the country’s democracy and drag down its hard-won reputation as the beacon of multi-party democracy and good governance in Africa.

“The position of the NDC, which we the elderly members of the party’s Council of Elders have been reluctantly forced to endorse because of the times we are in, is very simple. Enough is enough. We have had enough of the vile intimidation and fatuous threats,” he stressed.

Living conditions

Alhaji Mahama observed that the living conditions of Ghanaians were getting worse by the day and what was needed was a conscious effort to determine the choices that ought to be made for survival and sustainable development.

“This is what Ghanaians expect of their political leaders and representatives, not political retribution and witch-hunting, harassment and humiliation,” he said.

He also reminded the media of their special responsibility to ensure that there was a viable and virile opposition for democracy to thrive and for that matter any attempt to annihilate the opposition, in particular the NDC, with a view to creating a de facto one-party state