Creeping, politically-motivated violence is a canker

Some youths, believed to be members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), went on a rampage and set ablaze some items in the party’s constituency office at Ho in the Volta Region.

The disturbance was allegedly linked to dissatisfaction among some grassroots party members in the constituency, who were upset that the president did not nominate anyone from Ho Central as a minister to his government despite the constituency’s significant support for him in the 2024 elections.

Equally, in the president’s own hometown of Bole Banboi similar incidences took place under the pretext that no minister was appointed from that constituency. These are condemnable acts that prove that we have not fully grasped the essence of democracy, though we claim to be a mature democracy.

According to the architecture of our governance system, the president is the appointing officer as granted him by the constitution – and once we have elected him to perform his duties, he should be accorded the latitude to function without any form of partisan blackmail.

These acts of vandalism and politically-related violence should not be countenanced and we are happy that the police have been called in to investigate. Those inciting these youths must be identified and picked up to answer for their actions.

It is also refreshing that the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho Central constituency in the Volta Region, Edem Kofi Kpotosu, has come out publicly to condemn the youths’ action and asked for swift police investigations.

This culture of political violence has to be stamped out and this Paper joins all well-meaning Ghanaians to condemn these abominable acts in the name of democracy. Though we understand that times are hard with unemployment rife, the youth must exercise restraint to allow the new administration embark on their resetting agenda.

The post Creeping, politically-motivated violence is a canker appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

Read Full Story