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| Acting National Chairman of NPP, Freddie Blay |
At
the Passport Office, here in Accra, a police man stood on his feet giving
orders. He was commanding stranded passport applicants to move back, a bit away
from the premises.
“No
one must stand here! Massa [referring to a gentleman] go, go,” he said.
It
was January 10, 2017 hours after some thugs of the New Patriotic Party stormed the
passport office demanding a takeover of the facility. Asking why? Their
government is now in power.
This barbaric behaviour is not the
first to be orchestrated by these NPP hoodlums. On January 9, 3news.com reported: “Persons believed to be supporters of
the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday seized the official vehicle
of the Chief Executive of the Nzema East Municipal Assembly.”
On
January 10, it was again reported that the “Chairman of the New Patriotic Party
(NPP), in the Trobu Constituency, Kwame Ofosu Adjei is in the grips of the Amasaman
Divisional Police for attacking a police officer on duty at the Pobiman
tollbooth.” It was alleged he was on a mission to seize the tollbooth.
Many discerning Ghanaians including
some NPP MPs have since condemned the incidents.
Reading about the police’s arrest and seeing the officer, at the passport office, act the way he did to ensure sanity prevailed, I wore radiant of smiles. At last, the police have been brave enough to prevent these incidences from reoccurring.
Little
did I know, however, that the officer I saw driving away people who stood idle
at the entrance of the passport office was exhibiting but the power vested in a
child over a tethered he goat.
“We
are here working in fear,” said a worker who wanted anonymity.
“Those
the police arrested, yesterday, are back here [passport office]. At the
security post and at the reception, these NPP supporters are today on a silent
mission all in an attempt to take over the facility,” she said.
Really?
And that police officer was ‘showing off’ at innocent persons? I asked myself. This
woman’s claim pricked hard in my ear the way the penis does to the wall of a
bell. It pushed me to probe further.
“How
sure are you concerning your claim, Madam?” I asked.
“I am not supposed to tell you this, you know.
But …” she said, looking a bit frightened.
“The
truth is that we are privy to information that a high official, in government,
ordered the release of these thugs.”
Checks
at the security post of the passport office, indeed, confirmed the allegation.
Some civilians were seen assisting the police in manning the facility. At the
reception, too, I was fortunate to have had a security man, who wore mufti, waiting
to collect his passport, to also confirm how serious the situation was.
This
is certainly an affront on our democratic credentials as it has become a ritual
that when there is a change in government the winning party’s supporters do the
unthinkable. One would hear NPP serial callers and some party communicators say
‘the National Democratic Congress (NDC) did same in 2009. So, the situation
repeating itself after the Electoral Commission declared the NPP winner of the
2016 election is but equalization of what the NDC supporters previously did.’
It,
however, becomes very shameful when leading party executives, the elderly of
course, endorse these nefarious acts of their supporters. When I heard the
Acting National Chairman of the NPP speak to Ghanaweb and 3FM saying
these party supporters are only protecting state properties, I buried my head
in my palm.
“At the harbour, people are
stealing cars. People are carrying away items that should attract duties and so
forth, containers being taken away without going through the right process.
“If we see people stealing cars
from the harbour, are you suggesting that we should wait and go and call the
Police?” said lawyer Blay to Ghanaweb.
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| Burnt Fiapre Tollbooth, in B/A |
Citizen vigilantism is
commendable but one does not do so by going beyond their limit. Do citizen
vigilantes burn down tollbooth as it was seen and heard at Fiapre in the Brong
Ahafo region? When did Mr. Freddie Blay’s brigade realise that some people were
stealing at the Tema Habour? Where were these hoodlums when Anas Aremeyaw Anas
caught on tape some officers at the habour taking bribe? In protecting state
property, would it not have been ideal these NPP supporters went there to
arrest these corrupt officers? Shaking my head!
Interesting, isn’t it? Their government
is in power and they have big men behind them. They have the effrontery to
explain why they attack and burn down properties. I vehemently condemn the NDC’s
2009 attacks and it could have only been reasonable the NPP supporters acted
with a sense of maturity this time.
The Mighty Eagle in the movie Angry Birds said it right that “wisdom
is not something that is given. Wisdom is attained.” I only hope and pray that
these political parties’ supporters attain wisdom with time to understand that
none of the politicians, they follow, will push their children to go seize
toilets and tollbooths.
When I left the passport office
on that Tuesday, I wondered which top official in government could have possibly
called the police to release these NPP thugs. There seem to be an answer to
this question now. Nonetheless, this is the time the police must prove that they
are independent and deal with outlaws.
The writer is a broadcast
journalist with 3FM 92.7. Views expressed here solely remains his opinion and
not that of his organisation.
Email: nehusthan4@yahoo.com
Twitter: @Aniwaba
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