Friday, June 19, 2009

CIVIL SOCIETY AGAINST WITCH-HUNTING FORMED (PAGE 14)

A NEW pressure group, Civil Society Against Witch-Hunting (CSAW), has been formed in Kumasi with the aim of championing the fight against the perceived harassment of appointees of the erstwhile New Patrotic Party (NPP) government by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
The spokesperson for the group, Mr J.K. Owusu-Boakye, told the Daily Graphic in Kumasi yesterday that the continuous harassment of the former appointees should be a source of concern to any person who genuinely believed in democracy.
Mr Owusu-Boakye a.k.a Abito who is also the special assistant to the Member of Parliament for Tafo/Pankrono, Dr Anthony Akoto-Osei, said it was regrettable that a government that ascended to power in a democratic era would decide not to play to the rules of the game.
He said the use of state apparatus to flex muscles and trample on the human rights of former government officials were bad practices that must not be entertained.
Mr Owusu-Boakye described the ongoing acts as a face saving political game by the government to cover up for its inactivity.
“Civil Rights groups and human rights organisations in Ghana should as a matter of expediency and fairness, call government to order and seek to protect the interest of the citizenry against unwarranted acts of vendetta,” he said.
The spokesperson observed that what was going on was “laughable in the eyes of the international community,” and added that it painted a bleak picture for the nation.
Mr Owusu-Boakye said the era of President Kufuor helped to build on the democratic credentials of the nation and it was regrettable that the NDC under President Mills was only working to undo what Mr Kufuor did.
He said it was the plea of CSAW to all friendly countries of Ghana to prevail on President Mills to show to the world that he is indeed in charge and alive to the task ahead of him.
“This is not the better Ghana the NDC promised and we call on them to change for the real better situation,” he said.

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