Residents of the Municipality have reacted to the “All die be die” statement Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the flagbearer of the NPP, made with some saying it was in bad taste while others said it was mere “political talk.”
He made the statement in Koforidua on February 08 while addressing party members. The flagbearer was quoted as having said the NPP would not tolerate any attempts by members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to intimidate its members during the 2012 general election.
In random interviews conducted by the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani on Tuesday, some of the interviewees condemned Nana Akufo-Addo’s statement as “one that smacks of immaturity, lacks sound judgmen and tribalistic”.Some said the statement had been taken out of context as it was sending a clear signal to the Electoral Commission to put its house in order to guarantee a very successful“I see it as a mere political talk, something which all the political parties are fond of. I think it is a plan or a ploy to counter some of the negative remarks the NDC made in the past. This must not be taken in the context that it is incites people to violence,” a businessman said.
Mr. Bauh Inusah, the Brong–Ahafo Regional Secretary of the People’s National Convention (PNC), said he saw nothing wrong with the comment by the NPP flagbearer, saying “it’s a call on people or members of the party (NPP) to sacrifice and work harder for the course of the party”. “People took him out of context. His statement is a mark of a very courageous leader and must be seen as such. He was sending signals to the EC that it should try as much as possible to ensure a violent-free and fair election by playing their cards well, otherwise Ghanaians wouldn’t take things lightly”, he said.
Martin Yeboah, a shoe seller, described Nana Addo’s comments as totally unacceptable considering his national and international reputation and someone seeking for the mandate to rule.
“It’s bad for him to have made those remarks. Even if in the past any other party member said a similar thing, that doesn’t give him the audacity to counter that. I don’t support what he said”, he said.
Mr. Alfred Annye, Brong–Ahafo Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, said the statement was only calling on the party’s members to be vigilant and to protect the party’s interests on Election Day.
He described the stance of the NPP flagbearer as a conditional statement and said his statement was conditional that if the NDC attempted to cause mayhem, then the NPP would come in since it also has courageous and brave men who could stand up to resist any oppression.
Mr. Takyi-Arhin, Deputy Brong–Ahafo Regional Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), described Nana Akufo-Addo’s statement as “unfortunate since he is a role model and had held ministerial appointments in the country and now the flagbearer of the NPP”.
He advised the NPP flagbearer not to court tribal war between the Akans and the other tribes and asked NPP party faithful not to encourage a repeat of the comment. Mrs. Raheal Baah, a trader, condemned the utterances of the NPP flagbearer as unbefitting of a personality who is seeking for the presidency, adding “people might take it in a different way but we should reject it since Ghana is a peaceful and God fearing country”.
She advised the youth not to allow themselves to be used by selfish politicians to foment trouble and create chaos as they are the future leaders of the nation. Madam Aisha Yacoob, a beautician, advised those condemning the NPP flagbearer’s comment to remove the log from their eyes before attempting to remove the speck from the NPP flagbearer’s eyes.
“Where were they when a leading member of the ruling party arrogantly and without any modicum of respect described the 17 NPP Presidential aspirants in the last elections as thieves? Who had the guts to ask him to apologise to Ghanaians? We are determined to resist any kind of oppression anytime, anywhere and a word to the wise is enough”, she said.