The governing NDC has rejected accusations by the main opposition NPP that it is stockpiling arms to cause mayhem in the general elections in November.

The NDC regional secretary Halid Abdul-Rauf told Joy News the NDC does not need arms to win an election in the north because “the NDC is still in control of the Northern region”.

The rebuttal comes after the NPP Northern regional chairman Bugri Naabu accused the Regional minister who is also the NDC candidate for Walewale Abdallah Abubakari of being behind violent clashes at a party event in Walewale.

At a press conference, the NPP leader in the Northern region claimed that guns are being distributed among party activists in Tamale and elsewhere in the region.

Bugri Naabu

He said an NPP member was maimed after an NDC vehicle run over his leg during political clashes. Another was also cutlassesd, he claimed.

“Do you think that after seeing happened in Walewale, I should wait for another incident to occur…. If NDC are doing that then we should fight for our rights,” he warned of defensive response.

Bugri Naabu wants the government to punish the regional minister.

But rejecting the accusation, the NDC regional secretary said Bugri Naabu’s claim is “a figment of his own imagination”. According to him, the NDC's disposition towards maintaining the peace is widely accepted.

He accused the NPP of the worst violence in the North between 2002 and 2008, alluding to a tribal war that lead to the death of a paramount chief and political unrest.

He blamed NPP for the violence in Walewale. He said the NPP organized a float to pass through the same area where the NDC was also holding a rally.

"NDC had earlier organised a program between the Walewale and Gambaga route and the NPP counter organised the program in the nature of a float that stood them from Walewale towards where our program was taking place" he explained.

He said the incident in Walewale is not serious enough to trigger a stockpiling of arms.