The leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has taken a swipe at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for keeping mute over the rampant attacks on and destruction of state institutions by members believed to be sympathisers of his party.

They have, therefore, called on civil society organisations, religious bodies and the international community to condemn those attacks, since they had the tendency to jeopardise the peace and stability Ghana enjoyed under the NDC government.

Addressing the media in Accra yesterday, the National Chairman of the NDC, Mr Kofi Portuphy, said “the beastly conduct of President Akufo-Addo’s Invisible Forces will no longer be countenanced,” adding that Ghanaians should not blame the NDC if the “unacceptable conduct of President Akufo-Addo’s Invisible Forces leads to reprisal attacks.”

There have been reported cases of seizure and take-over of public facilities and state installations by some youth of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in parts of the country.

Some of the youth were said to have invaded government institutions, including the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), the Passport Offices and Tollbooths and ransacked those institutions in addition to attacking state officers.

The press conference was attended by NDC executives, including the party’s General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia; former Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr Ekow Spio-Garbrah, and Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, the party’s Director of Elections.

All of the executive members, including some of the supporters, wore red scarf to indicate their displeasure with the purported attacks.

This is the second time the NDC party has come out to condemn attacks on its members following their defeat in the 2016 general election.

The leadership of the party, after it lost the December 7, 2016 general election, came out in a similar press conference in Accra to condemn attacks on its members and tasked it members to defend themselves should they be attacked.

We won’t allow

Mr Portuphy said the party was heavily disappointed in President Nana Akufo-Addo, saying that his "lack of positive and unifying character traits" which wounded the NPP in opposition would not be allowed to wound the whole country in government.

He said his party could no longer tolerate the irresponsible and careless attacks by the followers of the NPP, adding that the NDC worked assiduously to build a solid foundation of peace during its reign.

Touching on the presidential bungalow, Mr Portuphy said President Nana Akufo-Addo showed bad faith to ex-president Mahama, saying that the move was a ploy to cover up the plagiarism embarrassment he suffered during his inauguration.

"The exhibition of the extreme bad faith by the NPP administration is nothing but a crude and ugly attempt to divert attention from the gross embarrassment President Akufo-Addo has brought upon himself and Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana via the shameful plagiarism that characterised his inaugural speech.”

Mr Portuphy, therefore, asked President Akufo-Addo to apologise to Ghanaians for “his improper conduct of intellectual dishonesty and academic fraud rather than continuing to show bad faith after a rather smooth transition.”

In a related development Gertrude Ankah Nyavi reports from Accra that the seizure of public institutions continues as scores of youth suspected to be supporters of the New Patriotic Party yesterday beseiged the Ablekuma Central and the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metros in the Greater Accra Region to take over the positions in the offices.

They have, therefore, called on all government appointees to vacate their respective positions with immediate effect since their government, NDC, was out of power.

Ablekuma sub metro

At the Ablekuma sub-metro, the NPP supporters locked the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) office and threatened to assault workers if they do not vacate the premises.

They also forced city guards out of their office leaving only the Environmental Health Officers on the premises.

Our source at the sub-metro said the irate youth believed to be supporters of the NPP on Monday also sacked the officials at the revenue office.

 Some of the rampaging NPP supporters who thronged the premises of the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro told the Daily Graphic that their party was in power, hence, anybody appointed by the NDC government had to vacate his or her position.

They continued that most of the jobs in the sub-metro were given to NDC faithful making most followers of the then opposition jobless.

Reaction

Nii Martey who was clad in NPP colours said it was time for them to also enjoy the national cake.

He said most of the youth were unemployed because of their affiliation with the NPP.

James Nartey, one of the NPP activists, said supporters of the NDC did the same thing to them when their party came to power in 2008.

He was, therefore, of the view that it was payback time.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, an eyewitness, Naa Ayeley, called on the government to calm the situation, since the activities of the party supporters would mar the beauty of the democracy being enjoyed in the country.

She expressed the view that Ghanaians gave the mandate to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to unify and develop the country, so he must ensure that he serves all Ghanaians as the President of the country.

She also called on the President to call his supporters to order, saying “Nana Addo is the President of Ghana and not one political party, the election is over, we are all one people with a common destiny”.

Tight-lipped

Officials at the sub-metro, however, refused to comment on the issues.

The Sub-metro Director of Ashiedu Keteke whose name was only given as Mr Gokah said he had to get clearance from his superiors before commenting on the issue.

Background

There have been reported cases of irate youth vandalising some government offices ever since the New Patriotic Party’s Nana Akufo-Addo was declared winner of the polls.

Some of the facilities the NPP youth have tried taking over include tollbooths, offices of district chief executives and public toilets.

The NPP youth have also been accused of attacking members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).