The Deputy General Secretary and Director of Operations of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has dismissed the petition submitted by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) after its “Democracy Under Attack” demonstration, saying it lacks substance.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story on Thursday, August 6, Mr Gbande said the government remains focused on solving the country’s problems and would not be distracted by the opposition’s protest.
He acknowledged that the NPP had carried out its demonstration without any major incident but insisted that the petition presented to the Presidency would not receive any attention.
“I’ll assume that they have successfully demonstrated. Nobody is hurt. The police have been law-abiding; they protected them quite apart from their waywardness and ensured that whatever they intended had finished,” he said.
“Let me assure him that that petition they have submitted today, nobody is going to have time to read it because it doesn’t make sense, and nobody is going to waste time. We have a nation to build. We have a country to build.”
Mr Gbande said the government has a duty to maintain law and order and ensure that anyone who breaks the law is held accountable, regardless of political affiliation.
He was responding to claims by NPP Deputy General Secretary Haruna Mohammed, who said the demonstration was organised over what the opposition described as politically motivated arrests, harassment of its members and the imposition of high bail conditions.
Mr Gbande rejected the allegations of selective justice, insisting that the law would apply equally to everyone.
“If by Monday there is any report that he, Mohammed, has stolen money, I believe he will not do it. If there’s any report against him, then he will be arrested,” he said.
He also criticised the NPP for holding the demonstration on the first anniversary of the military helicopter crash that claimed the lives of eight people.
“You go and stand outside, exploit unsuspecting youths to go and stand in the rain on a day that we are mourning and reflecting on a tragedy that has hit this country.”
“We lost eight statesmen. One-year anniversary, you organise a demonstration, and you call yourself a political party of well-meaning Ghanaians. It’s called waywardness. It’s called insensitivity.”
Mr Gbande maintained that the government respects the democratic rights of citizens but warned that anyone found to have broken the law would face the appropriate legal action.
He added that investigations and arrests would continue where necessary.
“So let me assure him that the petition they sent will not be read by anybody. They won’t get any feedback. From tomorrow, the arrests will even intensify. Let Ghanaians be the judge,” he said.
