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Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide, has laughed-off what he describes as "deliberate" attempts by some opposition party elements to rope-in President Nana Akufo-Addo in the alleged De-Eye ‘militia’ group saga.

National Chairman of the People's National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, recently described the posture of President Nana Akufo-Addo in the combat against vigilantism as “chameleonic”.

According to him, until Joy News documentary came out, whenever Nana Akufo-Addo spoke on the issue of vigilantism, he (President) behaved as if he was worried about it; “crying and doing everything to show that he abhors the existence of such group, not knowing that at the presidency, is a group that is training as a militia and they have taken strategic position at international and national conferences”.

In an earlier interview on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Bernard Mornah said he recalled seeing a lot of De-Eye Group members at the launch of Dombo Foundation, but then he mistakenly took them to be law students.
 
“I saw a lot of them and I thought that they were students of law because they were seated to my left side. I didn’t know these were a group of militia after being trained at the presidency and so when the President is shedding crocodile tears and letting everybody to know that the happenings in Ghana is terrible, then suddenly it turned out that the President has actually knowledge of the existence of the group and he is actually nurturing them; it is disturbing”. 

The PNC leader asserted that this act is “leading to ‘weaponization’ of our democracy which we all know that a semblance of this was exhibited at Ayawaso West Wuogon and so we have issued a statement that this nation deserves better, this nation deserves peace and President Akufo-Addo must ensure that there is peace”. 

Reacting on the same platform, the Deputy Minister of Information said “First of all, I want Chairman Mornah to understand that it is not true when he says there is training of militia group at the seat of government. I want to now if he knows where the Presidency is? If he does not know, then he should know henceforth that the Osu Castle is not the Presidency”, he chided.

He wondered why the PNC Chairman Mornah is insisting to classify those members of De-Eye Group who acted as imposters at the Osu Castle as militia.

“There is an issue at stake, instead of being honest with the truth people are persistently trying hard to drag the President into and denigrate him; that will not wash because Chairman Bernard Mornah, you have to understand that there have been many Presidents before of this country including your friend Mr. Mahama but when election violence arose in their time, they could not do anything about it”, he slammed.

“If indeed, De-Eye Group is a vigilante group, how come we have not heard of them in any election violence or any form of violence in the country before? When the Hawks was recently formed and we said it is vigilante group, they proved us right and killed someone in Kumasi, but that cannot be said of De-Eye Group. We have also heard of the Invincible, Delta Forces, Azoka Boys and Kandahar Boys”.

“So you will see a desperate attempt by the NDC and its allies to drag Nana Akufo-Addo into it that is why something which has happened at a place considered as part of the Museum and Monuments Board, my own friend Bernard Mornah says it is not true but it is at the Presidency”, he jabbed.