Legal Luminary, Abraham Amaliba
A member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba, has said the agitations that characterized the announcement of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) should be blamed on the procedure used by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He said the process of nominating and vetting as well as other factors that even caused the delay in releasing the list created restlessness among the people.
Following the release of the list of the MMDCEs by Local Government Minister Dan Botwe on Sunday, September 19, some youth engaged in disturbances in parts of the country including Odododiodoo and Chereponi.
In the case of Ododiodoo, four of the ringleaders were subsequently arrested by the police, for creating “a sense of fear and disorder”.
The police said their preliminary investigations suggest that the youth, believed to be members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), were protesting in anticipation of the list of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to be released on Sunday, September 19.
Twelve others in Chereponi were also arrested for their alleged role in the disturbances in the area on Sunday, September 19 following the nomination of Zuwweiratu Mada Nashuru as the District Chief Executive.
They are Kwabena Manteng,43,Iddrisu Abdul-Rahaman ,42,Sumaila Ibrahim ,16,Kasim Abdul-Aziz, 28, Kasim Latif, 65, Ibrahim Awuffor, 23, Osman Yussif, 36, Mohammed Abdul-Latif, 29, Fuseini Bawah,30, Kwame Mahamud, 31, Bashiru Ayabli, 29 and Arimiyaw, 22.
But speaking on the Key Points on TV3/3FM with host Dzifa Bampoh on Saturday, September 25 Abraham said blame this on the “process adopted by the president.”
Deputy Local Government Minister, Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah however noted that agitations over the nomination of MMDCEs in Ghana is not new to Ghana’s democracy.
He explained that it is within the democratic rights of Ghanaians to expresses their disappointment over the nomination of particular persons as MMDCEs however the disappointments should not lead to violence.
“This is not the first time this is happening, every time that appointments are made people are unhappy particularly for MMDCEs.”
“Anytime there are these appointments sometimes, all over the country some people express their disappointments which is their democratic rights but it should not get to the sense of being violent or breaking the law.”
“If you do that then it has gone beyond the democracy that we are practicing in which case you can be arrested and prosecuted,” the lawmaker for Akuapem South also said on the Key Points.