Kofi Boakye Will Only Be A Threat To NDC if�

Since the beginning of this year, President Mahama has come under intense pressure from his own party followers in the Ashanti Region to transfer Mr. Nathan Kofi Boakye, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander. The reason, according to the party members is that, if the police officer stays at post, the party (NDC) might not be able to achieve its aim of winning one million votes in Ashanti, come next year�s elections. The latest to add their voice to the call on the president to transfer the police boss is a group calling themselves, �Mahama For 2016�. In a statement issued in Kumasi recently, the group made reference to a statement made by the Regional Chairman of the party, Mr. Yaw Obimpeh sometime back that, he and his executives must not be blamed if the NDC was not able to achieve the One Million votes target, with DCOP Kofi Boakye still at post. It contended that the intimidating and imposing nature of DCOP Kofi Boakye does not serve the interest of the ruling party. �As a party, we should look into the reason why our Regional Chairman told us he shouldn�t be blamed if the party fails to meet its one million votes. �Per our investigations, we believe that DCOP Kofi Boakye can be an obstacle to the actualization of this target, with his intimidating presence come 2016 elections, and the earlier we reassign him the better it would be for us,� it noted in the petition. The Chronicle does not think this group consulted their party leadership before issuing this statement, which import is subject to a lot of interpretations. One of the interpretations is that the one million votes they have promised their followers is not genuine and that they are plotting to use foul means to achieve that target. Indeed, if this is what the NDC leadership in Ashanti Region is contemplating doing, then The Chronicle would advise them to put a stop to it, because it could result in chaos. Since our colonial masters put the various ethnic groups together and called us the Gold Coast, which has now metamorphosed to Ghana, we have never gone to war and the 2016 election must not be used as the starting point to bring war into this peaceful country. Yes, Kofi Boakye is the regional police commander but he is not a law onto himself, but subject to the laws of the land. He cannot, therefore, go contrary to the law by arresting NDC followers or stopping them from voting on the day of the election. Kofi Boakye will only become a threat if NDC tries to bend the electoral rules. The NDC as a ruling party has the responsibility of putting this country together before and after next year�s elections and issuing such statements create the impression in the minds of the international community that the President and his people have the intent to �steal� the elections, which might not be true. The Police Administration, headed by Mr. Mohammed Alhassan, has the right to make administrative changes, but looking at the way pressure is being brought to bear on the president, no administrator who merits his position would transfer Kofi Boakye before the 2016 elections. Kofi Boakye is a police officer and not a politician. He must, therefore, be allowed to perform his duties without any interference. The way the New Patriotic Party (NPP) also accused him of being a former bodyguard of President Rawlings and, therefore, automatically a member of the ruling party (the NDC), which has turned the fine police officer into a political punching bag is not the best. If we tag our peace officers as belonging to party A or B, it puts impediments in the performance of their duties, which is not good.