Full text: NDC conference over alleged plot to rig election
Source: myjoyonline

Here is the full statement from NDC's November 19 press conference over the alleged plot to rig the upcoming elections. It was addressed by the Communications Officer for NDC, Sammy Gyamfi. Good morning, distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the press. We thank you for responding to our call to this very important engagement. We have invited you here today in connection with credible reports we have received on the nefarious activities of one Brigadier-General Micheal Opoku, calculated at rigging the upcoming December 7 Polls for the ruling New Patriotic Party. Ladies and gentlemen, Brigadier-General Micheal Opoku is currently the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Central Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, a position he was inducted into as recent as July this year. The name of this man must ring a bell to Ghanaians as he is the person who masterminded the mayhem and brutalities inflicted on innocent Ghanaians during the infamous Ayawaso West Wugon bye-elections on January 31, 2019. As Director of Operations at the National Security Secretariat, Colonel Michael Kwadwo Opoku, as he was then known, commandeered and unleashed NPP thugs, including 'Double' to attack innocent civilians. You will recall, that many innocent Ghanaians were shot, brutalized and maimed. Not even the sitting member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Hon. Samuel Nartey George was spared by the NPP thugs acting under the guise of National Security. Appearing before the Emile Short Commission after the incident, Colonel Michael Opoku, as he then was, admitted that the masked NPP bandits who attacked and maimed innocent civilians did so under his express instructions. It is instructive to note, that the Short Commission placed ultimate liability on this military officer who is the subject of this press conference. The Commission recommended that he be reprimanded "for being ultimately responsible for the outcome of the SWAT operation at the La Bawaleshie School Polling Station." Sadly but unsurprisingly, President Akufo Addo under whose leadership the said atrocities were committed by Colonel Opoku and his bandits, rejected the findings of the Commission in his infamous White Paper. To add insult to injury, he has now been promoted to the high rank of Brigadier-General and rewarded with the position of General Officer Commanding of the Central Command of the Ghana Armed Forces. This is what has further emboldened him to champion yet another election rigging scheme. In his current position, Brigadier-General Opoku has been mandated by President Akufo Addo to take charge of a well-crafted scheme that has been designed by the New Patriotic Party to rig the upcoming election, particularly in the Ashanti region, through ballot stuffing, swapping of ballot boxes, swapping of pink sheets, and other clandestine activities starting with the special voting exercise scheduled for December 2nd. Having relocated his family to the United Kingdom, Brigadier-General Opoku has vowed to do all it takes to carry out this shady election-rigging plot of the NPP in exchange for the position Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) in the unlikely event that the NPP wins the 2024 elections. The NDC has received reliable intel to the effect that Brigadier-General Michael Opoku is responsible for the training of NPP thugs at Asutsuare Military camp and other places who he plans to clothe in military apparel to unleash violence on NDC agents and supporters on voting day. The NDC acknowledges and commends personnel in our security agencies who work tirelessly to protect our dear nation and are determined to protect the votes of suffering Ghanaians. Sadly, unlike the many professional and noble men and women in Ghana’s security agencies, Brigadier-General Opoku has turned himself into a rabid NPP functionary who openly mobilizes funds from businessmen for the New Patriotic Party. Per our credible intel, Brigadier-General Opoku’s residence in Kumasi is currently the storage facility for weapons, illegally-printed ballot papers, military apparels and other election materials, which the NPP intends to use to execute this dastardly and subversive agenda. Ladies and gentlemen, in Brigadier-General Opoku, we have an officer with a notorious record unbecoming of the position he holds. This devious character carries the mayhem and brutality he supervised at AWW as a badge of dishonor. A person like him has no place in the current environment where Ghanaians are calling for violence-free elections. Given his history, we call for his immediate removal from his position as GOC of the Central Command. A miscreant like him should not be allowed anywhere near the security architecture for the impending 2024 general elections. The NDC wishes to serve notice to Brigadier-General Michael Opoku and his collaborators in the New Patriotic Party that we have them under our radar and will continue to monitor them with eagle eyes. This time around, he and his ilk shall not succeed. Violence cannot and will not win the NPP this year’s election. The NDC hereby calls on the Inspector-General of Police who is the Chairman of the Elections Security Task Force not to allow any persons to usurp his authority. Ghanaians still await justice for the eight innocent Ghanaians who were shot and killed during the 2020 elections, including those shot in broad daylight at Techiman South. The IGP and the Elections Security Task Force must get to the bottom of this election-rigging agenda and stop Brigadier-General Opoku and his thugs from embarking on another Techiman South-styled killings. The IGP, owes a duty to the people of Ghana to be firm and fair-minded to ensure peace during and after the elections. In this regard, we assure him of our fullest cooperation. We also call on the Chief of Defence Staff to institute investigations into these issues and bring Brigadier-General Opoku to book. The NDC and by extension, the people of Ghana will hold the IGP, the Chief of Defence Staff and our security heads responsible for the loss of a single life in the 2024 general elections. Elections are about counting heads and not cutting heads. No person must lose his or her life on the altar of elections. Friends from the media, peace has a price, and all of us well-meaning Ghanaians must be prepared to pay that price for peace to prevail in Ghana before, during and after the 2024 elections. One of the ways to preserve the peace and stability of Ghana is to join hands in condemning persons who have the tendency and proclivity of compromising free, fair and peaceful elections. With barely 18 days to the December 7 polls, the NDC is confident of a resounding victory. This is because the NDC has a superior Presidential Candidate with a superior vision and message, backed by a superior proven track-record. The upcoming election is a choice between a trustworthy, reliable and honest leader in the person of H.E John Dramani Mahama, against the dishonest, discredited, unrepentant pathological liar and conman Alhaji Bawumia. We in the NDC have no doubt that Ghanaians will choose an honest leader who upholds the virtues of truth, decency and candour in public life, over one who is completely allergic to the truth. The December 7 polls, is a choice between a political party, the NDC, that truly believes in the promotion of proper human sexual rights and family values for the protection of the innocence of our children and a political party, the NPP, that supports the promotion of LGBTQ++, hence the refusal of their leader to sign the anti-LGBTQ++ Bill (Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill) into law. This election is a choice between the nation-builder H.E. John Dramani Mahama as against the failed economist, Alhaji Bawumia. It is a choice between President Mahama who bequeathed a solid economy with a stable credit rating of B-, sustainable public debt and strong economic buffers, as compared to the failed economist Alhaji Bawumia who has borrowed Ghana into bankruptcy and supervised the near collapse of Ghana's economy. Friends, our dear nation is at a crossroads and requires an urgent reset. Not only have the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government failed to keep almost all their flagship promises to Ghanaians, but they have totally run down Ghana's economy, leading to unprecedented hardships and an ever-worsening standard of living. Ghana needs the experienced and steady pair of hands H.E. John Dramani Mahama offers. His proven track-record of sound economic management and the right transformational vision is what Ghana needs at a time such as this, to steer us out of our current mess. We in the NDC are convinced that Ghanaians will vote for change on December 7, because the people of Ghana will choose the experienced, tried and tested nation builder, John Dramani Mahama over the dangerous and fraudulent experiment called Alhaji Bawumia. The NPP knows this and seeing defeat staring at them in the face, have resorted to dark and evil plans to rig the election through ballot stuffing, swapping of ballot boxes, pink sheets and other shady activities using willing and dangerous collaborators in the state security apparatus such as Brigadier-General Opoku and the 2BN Commanding Officer, Lt. Colonel Nyarko Osae. Ladies and gentlemen, Ghana is all we have, hence the NDC's unconditional commitment to peace. Anyone who plots or attempts to subvert the will of the people by undermining the sanctity of the electoral process is an enemy of the state and must be dealt with in accordance with law. We all owe it a sacred duty to God and country to expose and stop such characters so as to ensure that the peace and democracy we enjoy today is sustained. Thank you for your attention and may God bless our homeland Ghana.