Plans by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to petition the United Nations (UN) over acts of “terrorism” by some politicians in the country will not be a good move and must be aborted, Irbard Ibrahim, Executive Director of Irbard Security Consult, has said.
Mr Ibrahim argues that such an action would only put Ghana in a “negative spotlight”.
The NDC has said it will request the UN and the international community to place Assin Central lawmaker Kennedy Agyapong on its list of terrorists.
NDC Deputy General Secretary Koku Anyidoho told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Tuesday 11 April that Mr Agyapong’s sponsorship of pro-government vigilante groups Invincible Forces and Delta Force essentially makes him a “terrorist”.
Members of the Invincible Forces have been on rampage seizing state institutions after Nana Akufo-Addo was sworn into office on 7 January, 2017. Members of the Delta Force also attacked the president’s regional security coordinator in Kumasi and also stormed a Kumasi Circuit Court to free 13 of their members who were standing trial for assaulting the security appointee. The 13 suspects later surrendered. Eight of those who helped them to escape were also arrested and are standing trial. They have been denied bail and are to reappear later.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has condemned the action and said the rule of law was being adhered to while the situation had been put “under control”.
Speaking on these issues, Mr Anyidoho said Mr Agyapong, having repeatedly expressed public support for the two groups, had, by his actions, developed a profile as an international terrorist.
“Now what we are going to do is to petition the diplomatic community. Now the petition is going to say that a travel ban must be placed on Kennedy Agyapong, first of all, and, secondly, his name must be added to the list of international terrorists because what he is doing here in Ghana is nothing different from terrorism,” Mr Anyidoho said.
“Now if you reel back, 2008, he did the same thing prior to the elections, whipped up a lot of anti-NDC sentiment when President Mills won. On the 6th of January 2009, midnight, when the MPs were being sworn in, Kennedy Agyapong was nowhere to be found. He had run away from the country, was abroad, waited when the dust settled, he came and he was sworn in alone in the Speaker’s chamber. In 2012, [the same Kennedy Agyapong said]: ‘Let’s kill Ewes, let’s kill Gas, let’s club people.’ This coward that he is ran away again when the results were not favouring the NPP.
“… Now what we are saying is that this level of cowardice cannot be countenanced any longer. A travel ban must be placed on him so that in the unlikely event that his reckless utterances allow his terrorist forces to want to destroy this country, let him stay in this country so that, God forbid, if this country will be destroyed, let him be part of it. He will not run anywhere. So, yes, our guns are blazing at this Kennedy Agyapong character as an individual and his terrorist groups. We are listing them to the international community, they should place [a travel ban on them] and we are trying to even get names of all the individuals and hand them over to the international community. All these people must be blacklisted.”
But Mr Ibrahim told Jonas Ofori-Yeboah on Class FM’s 12 Live that even though the public display of support by the Mr Agyapong for the Delta Force was worrying, “drawing parallels with terrorist funding would mar the international reputation of Ghana as a bastion of peace and stability in West Africa”.
He was of the view that “the UN Rep for West Africa has already spoken against it [vigilantism]” hence there will be no need for a petition.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
