Nana Addo Will Not Be Punching Bag in Election 2012; A Rejoinder

In a news story published on Ghanaweb of August of 28, and attributed to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Wa in the Upper West Region, the National Youth Organizer of the NPP, Mr. Anthony Abaifaa Karbo was reported to have said that �Nana Addo will not be punching bag in election 2012.� The NPP youth organizer also said that he is aware of a plot by the ruling National Democratic Congress to unleash both verbal and physical attacks on the person of Nana Akufo Addo, the flag bearer of the NPP. If the NPP is aware of such a plot, the best it could do in the interest of peace and security of the nation is to report such plots to the security agencies. Instead Mr. Karbo and his party ignored lawful ways of political campaigning and issued threats of their own. If any political party is planning violence in Ghana, it�s the NPP. It was their candidate who is making every effort to insight ethnic division in the country by suggesting that Akans, the majority ethnic group in the Ghana, pick up arms against their fellow citizens in order for him to be President. Nana Akufo Addo was on record saying that �all die be die.� Suggesting Akan should not sit idle and allow the other ethnic groups in the country to dominate them. The NPP member of parliament for Fanteatwa Mr. Kwabena Amankwa was on record to have described people from the northern part of the country as dirty and violence. In a radio interview with City FM, a local Ghanaian radio station, Mr. Amankwa said �they (Northerners) are always on the move and vandalism has become the culture there.� The NPP is also home to hate mongers like Dr. Okuampa who is noted for writing and publishing ethnically charged and hate ranting online, particularly on Ghanaweb. Therefore if violence erupt in Ghana during and after the 2012 election only one party will be responsible, the NPP. As the largest opposition party in the country, the duties and responsibilities of the NPP should include providing Ghanaians with alternative policies and programs. Instead, ethnic entrepreneurship, hate mongering, political insults and spreading falsehood against their opponents has become their mantra since they lost power to the NDC in 2008. Thus far, NPP thinks it can bully its way back in to office. A risk assessment report written by Richard Dowie and Jennifer Cooke of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (US-CSIS) warn of a possible political instability in Ghana. The report specifically mentioned Nana Akufo Addo for his attempts to insight violence in Ghana. �The role of the NPP leader and expected presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, will be crucial, and early signals suggest reason for worry. Akufo-Addo is desperate to mobilize support, and he has played the ethnic card, referring to the NPP as �We the Akans,� urging his supporters to �all die be die��that is, they should be willing to die to ensure the NPP's victory,� the report said. It is against this back drop that we call on every Ghanaian and well wishers of the country to call on the NPP and Nana Akufo-Addo particularly, to exercise restraint in their conduct and utterance during and after the 2012 presidential election. Ghana is the only stable and democratic state in the region and all efforts should be made to ensure that the peace and security of the nation is guaranteed after the 2012 elections. Ghana should not die in order to ensure the presidency of one man.