Two leading officers of the United Party, Solomon Owusu and Andrew Appiah-Danquah have petitioned the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service to invite Former Defence Minister and MP for Bimbilla, Dominic Nitiwul for questioning over his recent tribal comments.
The duo said the petition is submitted out of genuine concern for the preservation of public peace, national cohesion and harmonious relations among the different ethnic communities living and conducting business in Accra.
In a video circulating on social media Dominic Ntiwul allegedly made tribal remarks in relation to the relocation of Konkomba Yam Market at Agbogbloshie in Accra for a 24-Hour Market to be constructed instead.
In the petition addressed to the Inspector-General of Police and the Greater Accra Regional Commander, the petitioners claim, the MP was heard making the following comment they deem tribal and could incite violence .
“We don’t see what the Konkomba tribe has done against the Government, that they have only come to the centre of Agbogbloshie, where the Konkombas reside, and decided to site the 24-hour market there.
“They left the site this way; they left the site behind; they left the site at the other side—but only marked where the Konkomba people are. We feel that it is targeted at just removing the Konkombas from Accra. Why is it that only where the Konkombas are are the places that he marked? What did they do that you have decided to come to the centre where the Konkombas are?
“You left all the other areas and came to where only the Konkombas are—where they have their market. You have marked every store in the market to be demolished. You have also marked where they sleep to be demolished and left every other person.”
“What crime have they committed? Are they not Ghanaians? So why? Why are they being targeted?” Ntiwul stated.
He continued: “So, Mr President, stop your Mayor. Mr President, let him stop targeting the Konkomba tribe. They are not moving tomorrow. Who was afraid to bring his yams before they said they would demolish? Let them know that they should continue to bring their yams. It will be politically suicidal for the President to allow the Mayor to touch them and to do what he is thinking of doing.”
According to the petitioners, the above comments from the Bimbilla MP “go materially beyond legitimate criticism of a governmental policy” and rather introduces “an inflammatory ethnic dimension” into the matter.
The say the statement “are capable of creating fear among members of the Konkomba community, engendering resentment against the Government and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and creating an atmosphere in which confrontation between affected traders and public officers may occur.”
Owusu and Appiah-Danquah acknowledged the freedom and right of every person to criticise a government policy.
However, they explained that their petition is borne out of concerns for the MP’s repeated claim that government is attacking the Konkomba tribe.
“Our concern arises from the deliberate and repeated presentation of the matter as an organised governmental attack upon a particular ethnic group. The Honourable Member did not merely allege that traders, tenants, occupiers or market operators were being affected by a redevelopment exercise. He repeatedly invoked the identity of the Konkomba tribe,” the petitioners stated.
Call for investigations
They therefore want the CID to investigate the matter and establish the following;
1. the exact location and circumstances in which the statements were made;
2. whether the statements were made in a public place or at a public meeting;
3. the composition, disposition and reaction of the audience;
4. whether tensions already existed between the traders and the relevant authorities;
5. whether public officers were expected to undertake an enforcement or demolition exercise imminently;
6. whether the declarations that the traders would not move and should continue bringing their yams were intended or reasonably likely to encourage resistance;
7. whether the repeated allegation of deliberate ethnic targeting was likely to provoke hostility or a breach of the peace;
8. whether any conduct, agitation or mobilisation followed the publication
Read full petition below
By Nunoo Benjy Nii
