The National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Deputy Director of Elections and IT, Rashid Tanko-Computer, has criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for staging its “Democracy Under Attack” demonstration on the first anniversary of Ghana’s military helicopter tragedy.

He described the decision as insensitive to the bereaved families and contrary to Ghanaian cultural values.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Thursday, August 6, Mr Tanko-Computer said the NPP’s choice of date showed a lack of respect for the families of the eight people who died in the crash while on official duty.

“They’ve gone for some exercise today. They’ve not been exercising for some time, so they decided to do an exercise.

“But this exercise they conducted today exposed how insensitive they are to the bereaved families of the August 6 disaster. Highly insensitive. Highly un-Ghanaian,” he said.

Mr Tanko-Computer argued that Ghanaian tradition places great importance on commemorating the death of loved ones, particularly on the first anniversary of a national tragedy.

“In our tradition and culture, when we lose our loved ones, we observe the one-week anniversary, then the final funeral rites, and after that, the one-year anniversary. This was a national disaster, and today is the day it happened,” he said.

He noted that the government had organised commemorative activities to honour the victims, including a memorial lecture at Burma Camp and an interfaith prayer service attended by religious leaders, the military high command, the police leadership, opinion leaders and the bereaved families.

“Everybody was there to mourn and remember them. They died in the line of duty, and you decided to organise a demonstration on that very day,” he stated.

Mr Tanko-Computer accused the NPP of shedding “crocodile tears” over the tragedy, arguing that its decision to proceed with the protest undermined its previous expressions of sympathy.

“They say they care about the victims, but today they have exposed themselves,” he added.

The NPP has defended the timing of the demonstration, insisting that the date was fixed well in advance. The party has also rejected suggestions that the protest was intended to disrespect the memory of those who died in the crash.