The Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for calling for an investigation into the violence that marred the partial rerun of the Ablekuma North parliamentary elections.
The opposition party and its Minority caucus in Parliament have condemned the attacks, which included assaults on NPP members, voters, and journalists.
The NPP’s 2024 flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has called on authorities to ensure swift arrests and prosecution of the perpetrators captured in several viral videos.
Meanwhile, the Minority has demanded that President John Dramani Mahama immediately dismiss two officials; Malik Basintale and Dr. Hannah Louisa Bissiw, for allegedly justifying the violence.
However, speaking on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, July 17, Kwakye Ofosu, who is also the MP for Abura Asebu-Kwamankese, said the NPP lacked the moral authority to demand such action.
“A party that endorsed violence during elections cannot now turn around and call for investigations into acts of violence. It is those of us who condemned it in the past and continue to condemn it today who have the right to make such a call,” he said.
He further recalled instances where NPP leaders, particularly former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, allegedly justified electoral violence.
“Their officials are on record to have vowed that there would be violence at Akwatia. Even as they call for action to be taken, they are threatening violence. Indeed, we all recall that in 2012, then-candidate Akufo-Addo openly praised the use of violence as a political tool.
“Let us not allow those who, in the recent past, sponsored acts of violence against opponents to suddenly pretend they are against it — because they are not,” Kwakye Ofosu stressed.
