Foot-soldiers’ invade Parliament

It has emerged that some elements within the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) marshaled and sponsored hoodlums to yell at President John Evans Atta Mills when he delivered the State of Nation’s Address last Thursday in Parliament.

Speaking to Today Newspaper in an exclusive interview in Accra on Monday, the deputy National Youth Organiser of the NDC, James Kofi Fonu, divulged that intelligence reports picked up by the party suggest that NPP functionaries sponsored thugs to misbehave in Parliament.

To the usually quiet organiser, the move was orchestrated by the NPP to increase the perception that there are internal squabbles within the NDC — a task he said, the NPP failed to accomplish.

Mr. Kofi Fonu though remained tight-lipped on those involved in the mobilization; he argued that, checks by his outfit across the country indicated that those individuals were not members of the NDC.

“Since the news broke out that some NDC foot-soldiers were in Parliament and fought over food which was being served to the parliamentarians, the party took it upon itself to investigate the matter to its logical conclusion.

… And believe you me, we found out that it was the NPP that organised thugs to go there and hoot at the president to create the impression that all was not well within the NDC,” he added.

Along that, Mr. Kofi Fonu dared the top brass of the NPP to come public to dispute the claims, if they had no hands in the pandemonium, which saw some irate party supporters scrambling for food meant for the legislators.

He alleged that the NPP out of desperation deliberately dumped dead bodies at certain areas in the Volta region, which is the strong of the NDC, to create the impression that their supporters were being persecuted and killed.

“The NPP are known for such ill intentions and machinations. In 2008 for instance, they (NPP) organised dead bodies and duped them at the Volta region to tell the world that it was the NDC who were killing their supporters.

And thank God they did not succeed in that endeavour, so this time around some of us are much convinced that they were behind the organisation of the so-called foot-soldiers who besieged parliament,” he emphasized.

According to him, recent utterances by some high ranking officials of the NPP including the flag-bearer, Nana Akufo Addo, suggests that the party were bracing itself up to indulge in violence, if the 2012 elections results does not go their way.

Against that backdrop, the NDC organizer was emphatic that President Mills, come what may, would retire Nana Akufo Addo in 2012 and charged followers of the NDC to remain resolute and resist all attacks by the NPP.

He added that it is about time the former minister of foreign affairs remained somber and put across what he described as a “more coherent” criticism which would help him to be remembered as one of the responsible opposition leaders the country has ever had.

“The NDC want to tell Nana Akufo and the NPP that desperation would not help them in anyway and it is about time Nana’s advisors told him that he can never become president so he should instead keep mute and be remembered as one of the finest politicians Ghana has ever had and stop ranting around unnecessarily,” he cautioned.

Continuing, he revealed that no amount of propaganda and intimidation by the NPP could prevent followers of the NDC from coming out to vote massively in 2012.

It would be recalled that suppose disenchanted sympathizers of the NDC besieged the foyer of Parliament last Thursday and criticized the Mills administration of neglect.

In the ensuing confrontation, it was reported that the aggrieved party supporters ceased foods that were being served to the parliamentarians.