Transition Violence: Oye Lithur Asks Akufo-Addo To Accept Responsibility

Former Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection Nana Oye Lithur has asked President Nana Akufo-Addo to acknowledge that Ghanaians have been “split right in the middle” by the actions of the notorious ‘invincible forces’ he has refused to bring to book.

The invincible forces are a security group made up of ex-military and police officials, working under the umbrella of the New Patriotic Party and have been identified as the force behind recent acts of thuggery carried out on persons and institutions that are associated with the past NDC administration.

The president in the State of the Nation Address he delivered on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, told parliament he did not condone the activities of this group during the nation’s transition period.

“Mr Speaker, certain instances occurred during the transition period which are matters of concern to me and should be to every Ghanaian. Wrongdoing has no political colour and I do not subscribe to the lawlessness of political party supporters simply because their party has been elected into office,” he stated.

“Mr Speaker, when those incidences began, I instructed the then Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor, to apply the law irrespective of political affiliation to all law breakers. This instruction was also carried on to his successor David Asante-Apeatu to act upon it to bring such situation under control,” he said.

But Mrs Oye Lithur is of the opinion the president can do more than just express concern.

“He is singularly a human rights activist…we expect more from him now that he is president.

“We need to see him do more than talk. It’s been three weeks and we’ve not seen anyone actually prosecuted,” she expressed in a panel discussion on GHOne TV after the president address the nation.