The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has responded to criticisms on a recent demonstration carried out by members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in disagreement with the December 7 election results.
Hundreds of NDC supporters in some parts of the country are embarking on a march to protest the outcome of the just-ended elections, which declared President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) winner of the presidential poll.
On Sunday, in Ashaiman, a municipality in the Greater Accra Region, supporters, clad in red attires and arm bands, displayed placards with inscriptions such as “stolen verdict”, “let my vote count”, “we need peace”, “declare the right results”, “respect the right of Ghanaians”, and “declare Sene West Constituency now” among others, as they walked through various streets in the municipality. Similarly, in Parliament, members of the Minority were also clad in black and red attire.
According to Mr Ablakwa, to protest is a right guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution, so the NDC had done nothing wrong.
“I have heard people saying why is the NDC demonstrating? Why is the NDC in black? These are all constitutional rights. Everybody has the right to demonstrate. What we are doing? We are standing up for democracy; we are standing up the constitution; and we are standing up for the vote of the people to be respected. Protest is part of Ghana’s constitution. We are law abiding and don’t want people talking bad about us, that’s why we have chosen to demonstrate.”
The North Tongu Legislature said that the demonstration was to send a strong warning to the NPP that if they want cooperation from the NDC side and want the inauguration ceremony to be peaceful, they should respect the right of the people.
“The will of the people is that Ghanaians voted for change in the presidential and parliamentary elections and that must be respected,” he said. He said the Minority in Parliament would join its constituents to protest and insist on the right thing being done.
Touching on the issue of going to court, the MP said that the party’s legal team was examining the work done by the forensic audit team in order to make a strong case when they head to the Supreme Court.
On why the Minority members were clad in red and black attire, Mr Ablakwa indicated that the group was mourning the state of Ghana’s democracy. He said the Electoral Commission (EC) and the NPP had conspired to undermine Ghana’s democracy with fraudulent election results, so there was the need to mourn.
“What we are doing today is that we are mourning the state our democracy. The one the EC, in conspiracy with the incumbent government, the NPP, has destroyed.”
Responding to the issues, Mr Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, Director of Communication of the NPP, said that the NDC was on the wrong track and should backtrack. According to Mr Buabeng Asamoah, the protests could create chaos so the NDC should rescind its decision, since it could cause chaos and violence in the country.
The Adentan Legislature indicated that according to Ghana’s democracy, the EC was the sole body mandated to declare who has won an election based on majority votes, and that is exactly what the EC Chairperson, Madam Jean Mensa, did.
He said anyone who had doubts about the EC’s declaration should use the right means to seek justice, and not protests, which could result in violence.
He opined that if the NDC’s presidential candidate wants to get justice in order to rule the country, he should do so in peace, so that he can get a stable country to rule, and not a chaotic one.
“If you speak violence and your people resort to violence, it ends up in a cycle that does not establish stability. If you want to rule the country, you must rule it in stability. You can’t degenerate the country into violence in expectation to rule. What are you going to rule over? You can’t rule over violence.”
The post Okudzeto, Buabeng differ on post-election protests appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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