The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has justified the party’s decision to petition the Commonwealth Secretariat to investigate allegations of human rights abuses under the Akufo-Addo government.
According to him, their concerns are premised on the fact that the actions of the Akufo-Addo government in recent times could severely impair democracy in the country.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, he said the government of Akufo-Addo government must be called to order.
“This government is not respecting the right to life, right to a fair trial, nor right to express one’s self,” he claimed.
The NDC has petitioned thus Commonwealth Secretariat to investigate and subsequently sanction the current administration over what the party calls bad governance and abuse of human rights.
“Since assuming the reins of power in 2016, the message of physical violence against political opponents that Nana Addo preached and championed before the 2016 general elections has turned into structural, institutional and systematic forms of violence in the form of human rights violations, harassment, and political persecutions against members and supporters of the NDC,” Mr. Asiedu Nketiah, NDC General Secretary said.
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Mr. Asiedu Nketia in explaining the rationale behind the petition said the commonwealth “must come and advise the government… [And] the government should respond to the Commonwealth. That is why we are requesting that they send a team to come and investigate the claims that we are making,” he stated.
According to him, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth participated in an election stakeholder meeting where there were several agreements towards ensuring peaceful elections in the country but the Akufo-Addo government has failed to take action on the points agreed upon at the meeting.
“We agreed on certain things following that meeting, and we prepared some proposals for electoral reforms on that… [Now] Our fears are that if the issues are not addressed, 2024 elections will be worse than 2020,” he noted.
Mr. Asiedu Nketia said the NDC believes that given the influence the Commonwealth has on Ghana it was wise to “write to them to remind them that things [they hear about Ghana] are not as they think they are,” he said.
