Lawyer and Deputy Regional Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Mike Oquaye Jnr., has asked President Mills to “cut off the head of the snake” that only churns out insults, referring to the editor of the Daily Post newspaper, Mike Dokosi, as the head of that snake. According to him the pro-National Democratic Congress newspaper has been publishing defamatory words about the NPP’s 2012 flag-bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, despising his stature as a flag-bearer. Speaking on Adom TV’s morning show, Badwam on Multi TV, Mr. Oquaye Jnr. noted that the recent bouts of insults in the Ghanaian body politic, were being instigated by pro-NDC newspapers. The two leading political parties, the NDC and NPP have for some time now been engaged in a war of words, attacking the personalities and characters of their respective presidential candidates. The war of words however got to an apex last week when an NPP youth activist, John Kumah made claims considered by many as unhealthy. But appearing on the newspaper review segment of Badwam, the NPP deputy regional secretary noted that the insults from the NDC youth are seasoned with blatant lies and “the worse one is what we also call the hate speech” which he explained as speeches that are made to cause hatred. He said the NPP is getting fed up with the abusive language and lies of members of the NDC. “The NPP has had enough insults. We are tired and fed up with the way we are being victimized,” he said. He referred to a front page story carried by the Daily Post of August 2, 2011 headlined “Akufo-Addo snubs Volta Flood Victims and dashes off to attend South Africa conference” as a clear example of such statements which could breed hatred in the minds of the people of the Volta Region. He stated that the establishment of a university is preceded by an act but the sod cutting done by President Mills for the Volta University is not guided by any Act and “this is all part of the lies, the propaganda, the pretence in this country”. He called on President Mills to caution his subordinates to desist from the insults, making specific reference to NDC activist Peter Otokunor who together with others he said, connive with pro-NDC editors to abuse the NPP. According to Mike Oquaye Jnr., there are some radio stations that encourage the insults in the media, adding that some presenters at such radio stations fail to use delay broadcast equipment deliberately to heighten sensationalism. Story by Agbavor Koku Prince/ Multi TV