Former President John Dramani Mahama has appealed to chiefs to compel the government to carry out investigations into the death of eight people during the 2020 general election
He pointed out that this would make it possible for government to compensate the affected families of those who lost their lives and the injured.
He made this appeal on Tuesday, October 12 when he addressed the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs at Koforidua.
The former president was in the Eastern Region for the third phase of a one-day Thank You Tour to acknowledge the support the NDC had in the elections and meet other stakeholders as well.
Nene Sakite II, President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, cautioned politicians against the politics of insult and rancour, which he said has the tendency to plague the country’s peace.
General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia urged the chiefs to play their independent role as an institution devoid of partisan politics and that engaging in partisan politics may rob them of their courage to adjudicate matters while politicians would also find it difficult to accept such arbitration from them
“We hold the chieftaincy institution in high regards. Any nation without proper tradition is going to fail. It’s the more reason that in moulding the 1992 constitution after the consultative assembly, we removed the clauses that allow chiefs in partisan politics, why because it is through the partisan politics that government leaders are elected.”
He explained further, “So, if we allow them to participate, some will have themselves at the right side of the government in power [and] others may have themselves at the wrong side of government in power. So, if you have the president who is convinced that some Nanamon voted against him, certainly there would be trouble. So, we agreed they be neutral and see us all as their subject.”
The NDC scribe added that the ability to remain neutral in resolving issues was the more reason chiefs must not engage in partisan politics.
“So in the practice of our politics if we are seen by Nananom to be crossing the boundaries, then Nananom will have the courage to call us to order. But if we allow Nananom to participate in partisan politics, and we find some of them to be against us, and others for us, when there is any conflict, and the same nananom who have supported our opponent now then out to be judges to be calling us to be arbitrating on matters that relate to our politics, it would be difficult for them to gather courage for that assignment.
“It would be difficult for us as politicians to accept such arbitration. That is why we insulate chieftaincy from politics. Play your independent role.”
Former President John Dramani Mahama said that it was regrettable that innocent Ghanaians in exercising their franchise should lose their lives.
He called on the chiefs to compel government to expedite action on the death, bring perpetrators to book and compensate families of those who died and injured.
John Mahama wondered why the Ayawaso West Wougon violence and that of Ejura had committees set up and looked into but that of the 2020 violence has not received same attention from government.
“We were not surprised [that] for the first time in our history, such a large number of innocent people should be killed at an election. It is shocking that in the last election, some of our people who were just participating in what is a civic duty for all of us lost their lives and the government kept mute over the issue,” the NDC Presidential Candidate in the elections stated.
On security, he expressed concern about the situation in the country.
He said there was growing insecurity in the country due to lack of job opportunities among the teeming unemployed youth and expressed the view that unemployment among the youth is a security concern because many of the perpetrators of armed robberies are the youth of the country.
“We are no longer save when we are traveling on our roads these days because our chances of being kidnapped or killed are here high even in day light,” he noted.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
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