NPP Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency in the Central Region, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, has waded into the controversy generated by the infamous “all die be die” comment by flagbearer of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and warns that should the NDC attempt to rig the 2012 elections, the electoral violence in Kenya will pale into insignificance to what will happen in Ghana, since “the country will be more like Rwanda.”
The NDC, he reckons, is “able to get away with murder” because oftentimes, people perceived the NPP to be plagued with the syndrome of “oh, let it pass”, but Hon. Ken Agyapong was emphatic that those days are over.
The NPP MP, who expressed these sentiments in an interview with Shamima Muslim on Citi Eye Witness News, said rather than derail the NPP’s chances, Nana Addo’s remarks is a sit-up call on the party’s supporters and not in any way provocative and will serve as tonic to revitalize the youth of the party.
The outspoken MP reminded Ghanaians of portions in the national anthem which urges one to “resist the oppressor.” To him, taking into account how NDC footsoldiers chased out their own “D.C.E’s” and seized state property, it is abundantly clear that “those guys are the oppressors,” and the only language they (NDC) understands is violence.
“They are killing innocent people, beating innocent people in this country, and nobody says anything and when the man (Nana Addo) says we should defend ourselves, and then they have a problem?” he rhetorically questioned.
Relatedly, he recalled President Mills’ strong admonishing to the Chairman of the Electoral Commission and the NPP which was then the ruling party, to ensure that the 2008 General Elections are conducted in a free and fair atmosphere so that the unfortunate scenes that occurred during the elections in Kenya, are not replicated in Ghana.
“I want to repeat with all the force at my command, the warning note that I sounded last year (2007) that should there be another attempt by the ruling or any other party at the December elections to steal the verdict of the people the National Democratic Congress and all fair minded Ghanaians will categorically reject out of hand the fraudulent results so proclaimed and will adopt all legitimate means, to seek redress to any such political misconduct. The NDC would therefore like to assure every Ghanaian that it will not allow the NPP in the coming elections to repeat such a disgraceful conduct as it did in 2004…It (NDC) therefore urges all Ghanaians and the international community to draw useful lessons from the on-going Kenyan conflict situation and the unacceptable conduct of elections held recently in other African countries with a view to ensuring that they are not replicated in our dear country at the next general elections.
We wish to take this opportunity to warn also against the kind of pre-election violence that has taken place in Pakistan with the unfortunate assassination of Benazir Bhutto and to urge the ruling NPP government to ensure the safety and security of Presidential and Parliamentary candidates as well as all citizens in the coming elections,” then Candidate Mills said at a press conference he held on the aftermath of the recent General and Presidential Elections in Kenya on Wednesday, January 9th 2008.
But the CEO of Kencity Media warned the ruling NDC that if they attempt to rig the 2012 election, what happened in Kenya will pale in comparison to what will plague the country, vowing that Ghana “will be more like Rwanda.”
“I will not sit there for anybody to take my life, hell no!…Nana Addo has made my day, all he is saying is, defend yourself, and don’t run away…,” Kennedy Agyapong said.