The Regional Secretariat of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has condemned the alleged destruction of billboards belonging to its party members at the Ablekuma West constituency in Accra.

According to the party, the alleged operation of ripping off all NDC flags and signboards was carried out by the "infamous members of the SWAT Operatives allegedly acting as a charade for the Invincible Forces."

In a statement copied to Joy News, the party’s Regional Communications Officer, Jerry Johnson said “much as we take cognisance of the law which compels all citizens to obtain a permit before erecting a signpost, it has remained a convention that political party paraphernalia are allowed to hang on signposts in every election year.

“We also wish to remind the public of the established procedure which requires the Municipal Assembly to notify political parties to remove their signposts within a specific period during and after every elections. Reference to ACT 936 of the Local Governement Act 2016 therefore, we believe the Assembly had no locus to warrant arbitrary destruction of political party paraphernalia on our streets at this time,” he added.

Read the full statement below:

GREATER ACCRA REGIONAL SECRETARIAT OF THE NDC CONDEMNS PRESIDENT  NANA  AKUFO ADDO  NPP GOVERNMENT'S USE OF “SWAT OPERATIVES" FOR LAWLESS ACT OF VANDALISM IN ABLEKUMA WEST CONSTITUENCY

The attention of the Greater Accra Regional Secretariat of the NDC has been drawn to an act of destruction of NDC paraphernalia in the Ablekuma West Constituency, perpetrated by NPP surrogate groups under the guise of the Municipal Assembly routine Operation.

Information available to us with pictorial evidence indicates that the operation of ripping off all NDC flags and signboards were taken by the infamous members of the SWAT Operatives allegedly acting as a charade for the Invincible Forces. 

Much as we take cognisance of the law which compels all citizens to obtain a permit before erecting a signpost, it has remained a convention that political party paraphernalia are allowed to hang on Signposts in every election year. We also wish to remind the public of the established procedure which requires the Municipal Assembly to notify political parties to remove their signposts within a specific period during and after every elections. Reference to ACT 936 of the Local Governement Act 2016 therefore, we believe the Assembly had no locus to warrant an arbitrary destruction of political party paraphernalia on our streets at this time.

Even though the government of Akufo Addo, ever since it assumed power in January 2017 has gained notoriety in its abuse of Executive Power, this level of political intolerance exhibited at the Ablekuma West Constituency is offensive, vindictive, an affront to the principles of Rule of Law and a danger to our fledgling democracy.

We, therefore, wish to register our resentment against this act of political persecution and roundly condemn the wanton disregard for the rights of other citizens to engage in politics from opposition. We further wish to call on the general public, civil society groups, the clergy etc to stand up against any form of violence, that is orchestrated to dim the sanctity of the forthcoming elections and plunge our nation into an abyss.

In conclusion, the president is hereby expected to pull the reins of his operatives to desist from this act of barbarism on the innocent members of the NDC and Ghanaians as a whole. Failure to do same within the period expected will leave us with no option than to execute a firm resolution passed by the Greater Accra Regional Secretariat to physically resist any act of terror visited on the innocent people of Ghana. Thank you. 

Signed:

Hon. Jerry Johnson

(Regional Communications Officer)