The National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kofi Adams, has stated that it does not lie in the hands of opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo to make Ghana ungovernable.
Mr Akufo-Addo on Easter Sunday March 28, 2016, asked Ghanaians to disregard the violence tag slapped on him by his political opponents saying Ghana could have been plunged into chaos after the 2012 election petition – of which he was the main petitioner – were he violent.
He cited his decision to contest the results of the 2012 presidential poll at the Supreme Court, and his subsequent acceptance of the verdict by the Court against him, as proof of his disposition to the rule of law, rather than violence.
But Mr Adams, in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson on Ghana Yensom on Accra 100.5FM, said Mr Akufo-Addo is exactly the opposite of what he claims to be. “What do you expect from Nana Addo addressing chiefs? He will say he is not violent. Even when an accused person is charged with theft, he hires a lawyer and pleads not guilty in court. That does not mean Nana Addo is not guilty. Because the record is there. His claim to fame is doing violent demonstrations,” the former aide to Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings said.
Mr Adams said Mr Akufo-Addo’s ‘all-die-be-die’ remarks in the lead up to the 2012 elections, further betray his violent nature. “You can always make out a violent person from his demeanour. But to start with, Nana Akufo-Addo cannot do anything. His violent tendencies can only go as far as within his political party because he is worshipped like a god there. But he can’t extend it to Ghanaians.”
“If he is listening…make it known to him that I say we, Ghanaians, are ready for him. Ghana will not burn, Ghana will not be destroyed, Nana Addo cannot destroy Ghana.”
His opinion of the NPP’s flagbearer was shared by Hassan Ayariga, flagbearer of the newly-formed All People’s Congress (APC), on the same show.
Asked what he made of Mr Akufo-Addo’s comments, Mr Ayariga said: “In the first place nobody tagged him as a violent person; he did himself. His comments of ‘all die be die’ and others he has made over the past, [are] what people have used to tag him as a violent person.
“And if he says that if he were a violent person the country would have turned into chaos, I don’t think that one person has the right or audacity to turn this country [chaotic] because he or she wants to be president of this nation.”
Mr Ayariga stated that four years ago, when all presidential candidates convened in Kumasi to commit to post-electoral peace prior to the 2012 poll, he personally asked Nana Akufo-Addo to withdraw the ‘all die be die’ comment, but he refused to do so.
“Nana did not have a choice in 2012 to have said he would [plunge] the country into chaos. His choice was to send the matter to court. He did that. He sent the matter to court, and that was his choice. Nothing more, nothing less. If he had said something, he would have been arrested, that’s a fact. Nobody is beyond arrest, and nobody can break the rules of this country and walk free, not even the president can do that,” added Mr Ayariga.
“So, nobody should think that he has the power and authority to turn this country upside down. No, let’s make it clear that this country does not belong to one individual or a political party. This country belongs to all of us and we must all protect it with our lives and all our power.”
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