Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, says it was wrong for former President John Mahama to show photos and videos of the violence that rocked the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election to the diplomatic community.
The former President on Wednesday received a delegation of diplomats where he sought to share with them his position on the January 31 violence at La Bawaleshie, a suburb of Accra.
In that incident, masked and heavily armed special forces fired shots and beat up persons suspected to be hiding guns and ammunition to disrupt the by-elections.
No ammunitions were retrieved but at least six persons sustained gunshot wounds.
Public condemnation of the incident prompted the setting up of a special commission to look into the matter.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which Mr Mahama is seeking to lead again in the 2020 general elections, says the injured person that the special forces attacked and injured were their party members going about their duties on the day of the by-election.
Many members of the special forces are also alleged to be ex-members of a vigilante group affiliated to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mr Mahama’s February 13 meeting with the members of the diplomatic mission, reports indicate, sought to make the point that NPP has a fertile history of engaging vigilante groups to cause mayhem.
Joined by the bigwigs of the NDC, Mr Mahama allegedly showed the members of the diplomatic community, videos and photos of the violence – the gunshots, the injured persons and the physical assaults.
Reacting to Mr Mahama’s meeting with the diplomats and his subsequent showing of the violent pictures to them, Mr Osafo-Maafo said the former President stooped low.
“This is unpatriotic and shameful. It is because if he gathered Ghanaians, call it the academia or Ghanaian professionals or Ghanaian businessmen and he talked about matters of concern to him, I’ll have no problem. He’s a former head of state and then for a very important opinion leader but to gather foreigners and try to paint Ghana black is just not acceptable”, the Senior Minister condemned in a short video clip.
He added: “What is he really after? What does former President Mahama want to portray? Why does he want to paint Ghana black? When indeed there is nothing to paint black. There was some violent, it didn’t happen in a polling station, it happened as it were in the parliamentary candidate’s house away from any polling station and we’re yet to know who even shot. Why would you want this to look like a national disaster? This is really nothing; it’s not good and I will never support any such thing but if you look at what has happened in previous by-elections in this country, this is nothing more than what had happened earlier.”
Mr Osafo-Maafo wants the former President to carry himself in the way that statesmen are wont to do.
He cited Mr Mahama’s declaration, following the January 31 violence, that the NDC will meet the NPP “boot-for-boot” during the 2020 elections as inciting violence.
Mr Osafo-Maafo is, however, convinced Ghanaians will not allow themselves to be led into violence.
Source: JFM/Ghana
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Former president Mahama has no moral justification to show any pictures or videos to any diplomas. Why not showing it to our own opinion leaders? Ghana belongs to Ghanaians not any foreigner.He can even show those pictures or videos to the UN or EU. Former president Mahama will and will remain the worse president ever in the history of our country. The most incompetent,the most corrupt and most violent president who only cares for himself and family but not Ghana. He is only trying hard to come back for what? Just to come back to loot and share but Ghanaians will never allow that to happen in sha Allah. Long live Ghana.
Eii Osafo Marfo AKA kweku ananse, I thought you people said nothing happened so why are you worried about what Mahama did. You think of yourselves but not about all of us. you guys already have visas and when the shootings starts you can fly n leave us to dies. Mahama you have indeed nailed the issue very very well and continue doing it now those who claimed nothing happened at the awayaso by elections are now seeing things clear. Ayekoo
Mahama's hands are as dirty if not dirtier than anything that happened at Ayawaso. You are corrupt, a looter, have presided over massive amounts of violence in by-elections and general elections in Ghana, the leadership of your party has a representative of vigilantism as a Vice Chairman of your party currently, and you are going to show pictures to some members of the diplomatic corps, for what? To justify your boot for boot campaign of violence without any message or ideas on governance, development, transformation that reflects in the lives of the people, for which you were rejected in 2016, and will be rejected in much higher numbers, should you win your party's presidential campaign? Ghana knows NDC and Mahama. They know the dastardly acts of violence inflicted on Ghanaians by NDC so going to show pictures to some diplomats of a by-election for some skirmishes which occurred at the warehouse or residence of the NDC candidate, who lost in 2016 and has lost in 2019 and will lose in 2020, is not going to change the fact that, NDC and Mahama's hands are dirty in the very act he supposedly went to show those pictures. The NDC Founder has just recently spoken to the very violent internal NDC machinery when he visited one of their members in hospital. Did he show them that picture too? Desperate Mahama is not foolingggggggg anybody and most definitely not Ghana and Africa. Mahama is not coming back to power again and no boot for boot can save him. No pictures can save him and the NDC because Ghanaians know better.
What is more dangerous and disgraceful than those tribal and ethnocentric speech of Osafo Marfo himself.
Why won't you speak for yourself. which Ghanaians are you referring to? Some of you are so stupiiiiid to the extent that you don't even reason before making comments.
This diplomatic corps or whatever they call them. They are all *fuuuuuuuuuuls* Mahama can show the video to the Pope and even United Nations at the up-coming UN conference. No matter what he does he will never be president again. Ghanaians are watching his non sense and disgrace to the nation and come 2020 we will pay him back. My father told me to be careful of northerners I now understand him. Mahama is just a disgrace to the northerners in Ghana. Northerners are always fighting and killing each other. Why didnt Mahama show them videos of the north.
ONLY FLS SAY FLISH THINGS LIKE WHAT OSAFO MARFO IS SAYING. WHO HAS DISGRACED GHANA MORE THAN NPP. DIDN'T THEY DO WORSE THINGS UNDER NKRUMAH, JJ, MILLS, MAHAMA? THESE NPP PEOPLE ARE VERY DISGRACE TO GHANA. I FEEL ASHAMED FOR HAVING PEOPLE LIKE OSAFO MARFO IN GH. JUST LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE COMMISSION. SOO MUCH CONTRADICTIONS ALL OVER. TIME WILL TELL
To all those who care to know; there has always been violence at all by-elections since the year 2000. The only by-elections which did not record any violence was the one at Abuakwa North to replace the late J. B. Danqua. And the reasons, Ndc did not participate. So who has been causing all this by-election violence?
I do hope John Ford will also show the violent at Akwatia, Chereponi and Talensi too..... This ford bribe taker is a disgrace of a former president. I wait to see what he will do if his party did not elect him as their candidate for the 2020 elections.
What's Osafo Marfo saying? Has he soon forgotten when President Mahama went to United States and NPP supporters there demonstrated against him? Is this not a disgrace to our nation? Even he was heckled and humiliated by NPP supporters in the full glare of the whole international community. Where was Osafo Marfo then? Mahama did the right thing to draw the attention of the international community about the mess being caused the by the so-called champion of democracy - President Akufo Addo. NPP would have done worst if this has happened in the era of President Mahama. Hell will completely break loss! They will even go as far as heaven to report the conduct of President Mahama to Almighty God. What a hypocrisy! Massa please don't bring yourself. Enjoy with your children you have given juicy jobs to do and stop disturbing us. Let's have a our peace! Period!