Ghana is approaching a pivotal election, and the recent actions of demonstrators have raised serious concerns about maintaining law and order, according to the Deputy Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ernest Kofi Owusu-Bempah Bonsu.
He expressed that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its leader, John Dramani Mahama, are exhibiting desperation in their quest for power, potentially jeopardizing the nation’s stability.
Owusu-Bempah accused the NDC and Mahama of using demonstrations as a political maneuver to sow discord in the lead-up to the elections.
His remarks followed a weekend protest organized by members of Democracy Hub, which resulted in several arrests due to unruly behavior.
He lamented that such events threaten Ghana’s democratic fabric, attributing the unrest to calculated efforts by the NDC to disrupt peace.
Owusu-Bempah noted, “I have joined demonstrations in the past with AFAG, I was a leading member of the Let My Vote Count Alliance, and we mobilize people on the streets to demonstrate lawfully, we were not reckless. If we continue to allow people to embark on this recklessness, or we give a few people the opportunity to go into sensitive public installations and be doing this then we have a problem especially when we are going for a crucial election.
“We are going into a crucial election, and Mahama is so desperate and they will do anything at all to make sure we don’t get the peace in Ghana after the election, They know they have lost the elections already,” he told journalists.
Highlighting the gravity of the situation, he stated that Mahama’s actions indicate a frantic attempt to undermine the electoral process, asserting that the NDC is already aware of their impending loss.
Recently, a court in Accra remanded 28 individuals involved in the three-day Democracy Hub protests after denying their bail requests.
They face multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit unlawful assembly, destruction of property, and assaulting a public officer. Additionally, another group of eleven protestors was similarly remanded, facing both the original charges and new allegations of defacing public property.
Their pleas were not entered, and a bench warrant was issued for one individual who failed to attend court despite prior notice.