Mills Missing As Volta Burns

President John Evans Atta Mills is nowhere to be found as communal conflicts turn the country into the slaughter’s slab, with death tolls rising by the day.

The raging fire in Hohoe in the Volta region is far from over, as over 2000 people have been internally displaced, seeking refuge in nearby communities.

Within a space of less than two weeks, conflicts have virtually taken over the country, while the President is missing in action.

The absence of President Mills, who was last seen in public when the Nigerian registered Allied Cargo Airline Boeing 727-200 aircraft crashed at the El Wak Stadium on Sunday, June 3, 2012, is raising questions about his whereabouts.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh said President Mills was perhaps in deep slumber, snoring while scores of Ghanaians were being killed across the country.

Dr Opoku Prempeh described Mills as a “sleeping president” who was apparently not aware of the numerous security and socio-economic problems that had engulfed the country.

He said if President Mills were not in a “comatose” state, he would have seen and spoken on the increasing spate of insecurity, lawlessness and violence across the country which had led to the loss of lives and properties.

Speaking on Metro TV’s ‘Good Morning Ghana’ Programme on Wednesday, Dr. Opoku Prempeh bemoaned the deafening silence of President Mills over the current state of insecurity in the country.

“We need a President who will not sleep over serious issues of security and a collapsing economy and I think Mills is not that President. We need a president who will not sit down for so-called senior members of his government to take decisions without his knowledge as said by Anyidoho,” the Manhyia MP stated.

Napo, as he is affectionately called, insisted that Nana Akufo-Addo was the kind of leader Ghanaians needed for their salvation in the midst of the myriad of socio-economic problems currently confronting the country.

Later in an interview with Daily Guide at Parliament House, the MP said President Mills had shown overtime that he was sleeping on the job and Ghanaians did not deserve a “sleeping president.”

“Violence has erupted in 10 ethnic areas in this country: A royal has been beheaded in President Mills’ own hometown of Ekumfi and yet, as the self-proclaimed “asomdweehene” of Ghana, he has not deemed it fit to comment on these matters to re-assure Ghanaians of their safety.”

A 60-year-old Ekumfi Chief, Kojo Eguasiah of Ekumfi Narkwa Asona Royal family, was recently beheaded during a quarrel over coconut, sparking communal and ethnic conflict at Ekumfi in the Central region between Fantes and Ewes.
Three people were killed after hours of gun battle as a result of the incident, with houses torched and properties destroyed.

Women and children fled their communities for fear of being killed and it only took the intervention of a combined team of military and police personnel to restore law and order in the area.

Similar violent conflicts had erupted at Nankpanduri and Tamale in the Northern region, Talensi in the Upper East region, Hohoe and Ho in the Volta region as well as Wa and Fielmuo in the Upper West, all recording casualties.

According to Napo, President Mills’ failure to comment on these serious security challenges, did not portray him as a leader who was either decisive or firmly in charge of the country.

It had been recalled by political observers that whilst he was the presidential candidate of the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), President Mills vowed to visit all conflict areas and speak against violence if voted into power.

He singled out President John Agyekum Kufuor for criticism, claiming the former president’s perceived inaction led to some violent conflicts in the country.

However, contrary to President Mills’ claim, when the late Yaa Na, the King of Dagbon was callously murdered in a chieftaincy conflict, President Kufuor quickly put together a team of eminent chiefs to help resolve the matter whilst criminal investigations were concurrently carried out to bring the perpetrators to book.

Source: Awudu Mahama, D-Guide