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"The minister of state for national security at the presidency has owned up that he was responsible for deploying them. The minister of state for national security works for the president…several of the people who were deployed were wearing shirts of the national security council inscribed on it and we all know that the national security council is chaired by the president, vice president…” asserts ex-President John Mahama.

The former President made this comment while ‘briefing’ some members of the diplomatic corps, Wednesday on the violence that ensued at Ayawaso West Wuogon.

Mr Mahama believes violent acts being perpetrated by vigilantes of the NPP is as a result of ‘pronouncement and actions of President Akufo-Addo.

"This particular president, as a candidate, has always promoted violence and it is on record; about his pronouncements and actions that show that this has just been accumulative approach that has finally ended up where we are…the all die-be-die mantra, and all other pronouncement that was made. He took the ordinary localised macho men and began to train them and bring people from outside to come and train them…what they call Invisible forces and Delta forces…once the NPP came into power…they gave these guys  national security cards and took them to a military training facility owned by the state at Asutuare…they’ve trained them for other sinister motives and now we know they disguise them as the SWAT of the police and used them to do things; like they did at Ayawaso,” he intimated.

According to him, "as president you get security briefings once a week" and so "there is no way he (Akufo Addo) wouldn’t have been briefed about security preparations for the Ayawaso West Wuogon by election…"

"It is obvious that this was a partisan deployment… this is just a bunch of hoodlums deployed for a purpose…the NPP candidate, Lydia; they were escorting her from polling station to polling station providing security for the parliamentary candidate. If they were neutral participants what will they be doing protecting one candidate…it just shows that this was a partisan deployment and as they themselves said; a dress rehearsal for 2020," he added.

A statement from the former President's office indicated that Mr Mahama was joined by the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Samuel Ofosu Ampofo; General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketiah; the Deputy Minority Leader James Avedzi; a former Minister for National Security Kofi Totobi Quakyi; and senior members of the opposition party.