President Akufo Addo’s loud silence on the Delta Force attack on the Kumasi Court is a sign of Government’s endorsement of thuggery and lawlessness.

It is very sad and shocking that several days after the brazen attack on a constitutionally constituted Circuit Court in Kumasi by members of the NPP’s Delta Force, the Presidency, and for that matter, the Government of Ghana is yet to issue an official statement on the matter.

The loud silence of President Nana Akufo Addo on this shameful act by members of his own party can only be interpreted as a clear endorsement of the criminal act perpetuated by a group that has always proudly associated themselves with him even when he was the flagbearer of the NPP in opposition.

The President himself, we are told, is an officer of the court, having practiced as a lawyer. He has for many years touted his human rights credentials, therefore Ghanaians expected that such a barbaric attack on the Judiciary, which is one of the three arms of Government, would have attracted an immediate condemnation in the strongest possible terms to send a signal to all such lawless groups in the country that his Government would not countenance such an exhibition of stone-age buffoonery.

Unfortunately, as we speak, it appears the President has not found it convenient to condemn the shameful and criminal behaviour of his own party members. Could President Akufo Addo’s apparent silence be a result of the loud threat issued by Kennedy Agyepong, NPP MP for Assin Central, on national television – he said that if anyone in the Government dares to condemn or prosecute the Delta Force group, he (Kennedy Agyepong) would lead a demonstration against the person?

Or is it because President Akufo Addo has been a DIRECT beneficiary of the criminal activities of these vigilante groups in his own party. Is this why he seems to lack the courage to publicly reprimand them for their lawless acts against innocent citizens?

Or is it because these vigilante groups in the NPP draw their motivation and inspiration from his ‘all die be die’ chant? Is this why he cannot condemn them even when they visited their mayhem on an innocent Circuit Court Judge and traumatized her?

For God’s sake, HE Nana Akufo Addo urged all Ghanaians to be citizens and not spectators or subjects. He also called on all Ghanaians to live up to their responsibilities. It is therefore important for him to live by that example so that the rest of us, the ordinary citizens, can emulate his good example.

It is in this spirit of citizenship that I think his loud silence on this attack on a young and growing democracy is very worrying, especially in light of the examples of insurgency in many of our neigbouring countries and the continent as a whole.

The activities of criminal gangs and vigilante groups like Boko Haram, al-Shabab, ISIS, amongst others, all started out like the Invincible Forces and Delta Forces.

We were told that one of the reasons for the elephant-size appointments made by H.E. Nana Akufo Addo, especially at the Information Ministry, was to ensure quick and timeous delivery of information to the good people of Ghana. Strangely, several days after the unfortunate attack on the court, even though the video footage has gone viral on both social and traditional media (local and international), the Information Ministry, which is the official mouth piece of the Government, is yet to issue any official communication on the matter.

Many Ghanaians, justifiably so, have come to the conclusion that the NPP Government firmly endorses the attack on the court by the Delta Forces. The scary thing is that, prior to attacking the court, they perpetuated a similar attack where the Ashanti Regional Coordinator was forcibly bundled out of his office in the RCC.

What is particularly disturbing is that one of the members of the Delta Force reportedly told the media that they had been assured that whatever was happening was a charade and that they would be set free in the end.

It is sad and disappointing that 60 years after Ghana’s independence, vigilante groups like Delta Forces and Invincible Forces still exist and act as insurgents who continuously deny citizens their right to dignified lives and peace in the execution of their duties.

This is NOT the Ghana that President Akufo Addo’s predecessors bequeathed to him under the 4th republican Constitution. Ghanaians no longer feel safe and protected. There are numerous cases of unwarranted violent assaults against innocent citizens of this country, both physically and verbally, some at the Flagstaff House and others in their private homes by these NPP vigilante groups.

Many public offices have been attacked and locked up by either the NPP Invincible Forces or the Delta Forces.

The recent catastrophe at the Kintampo Water Falls, which the Chief of the area and many others attribute to the forceful takeover of the management of the Water Falls is still fresh in the minds of the surviving victims and their immediate families, as well as all law-abiding citizens of this country.

As the Managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kwaku Baaku, said – Ghana has become a Banana Republic.

President Akufo Addo must break his LOUD silence on the increasing insurgency and thuggery under his watch. He must not only break his silence, he must demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that he and his Government do not find acceptable the lawlessness perpetuated by his own party members who draw their inspiration from his past utterances.

Baba Musah Xiabojian