The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Peter Mac Manu has challenged former President Jerry John Rawlings, founder of the National Democratic Congress to provide evidence to back up his claim that the New Patriotic Party leadership are amassing arms and distributing them to its supporters in Tamale to intimidate NDC youth. If he has any such information, he should provide them to the security agencies rather than make empty assertions, "and if he is not able do this then he is doing the good people of Ghana bad, he does not have the interest of Ghanaians at heart”, the NPP chairman insists. Mr. Mac Manu, who made these reactions at a press briefing on the Gushiegu violence in Tamale, said the NPP was not born out of violence. Rather, the NDC, which was formed by a military government fraught with violence, has not been able to rid itself of its antecedents, and is ready and willing to instigate violent behaviour at every given opportunity. The latest of such behaviour was exhibited at Tamale, Gushiegu and Kpantiga, Mr Mac Manu said. He said, the political violence in the north has a historical dimension, where the NDC intimidate and cause mayhem to scare supporters of other political parties from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right of association. This time, however, the NPP will fiercely resist any attempted molestation and brutalisation from the NDC by positive means, saying it is a well known strategy of the NDC to use violence to scare people and prevent them from voting. “They have done it before and they are trying the same this time”. He said, in a democracy the individual has the right to choose and people must be allowed to make their choices, be it political, social or economic, so long as they are within the confines of the law. Commending the security agencies, Mr. Mac Manu urged them to flush out people who want to create mayhem in the region, so that the country can have peaceful, free and fair elections. He again called on the Northern Regional Security Council to track all those who are responsible for the political violence in Tamale and Gushiegu and brought them to book Mr. Mac Manu called on all the political parties to preach peace in their campaigns for peaceful elections come December 7. Meanwhile the General Secretary of the party, Nana Ohene Ntow has called on the media to demand that the former President Rawlings provides proof for all his “wild allegations against the NPP and the security of the nation”. Such unhealthy and unguided statements, he said, could create confusion, tension and anarchy in the country, especially this election year. He added that, even the leadership of the NDC have been telling Ghanaians that they know those who killed the Ya Na and 21 others, yet could not give a scintilla of proof or help the security agencies to bring those responsible for the Yendi massacre to book. The NPP General Secretary therefore advised the party youth in the region not to be the aggressors but ensure that come December 7, they voted massively for Nana Akufo-Addo. Source: Statesman