This morning, I awoke to a deluge of calls and texts from friends, acquaintances, and several NPP supporters. The only reason for these distress calls is to express outrage after an attack on a media outlet, UTV, by several thugs who have now been identified as NPP members.
According to what I hear, this attack was carried out on a live broadcast that was airing late at night because the attackers believed the program’s content to be critical of the NPP.
After viewing numerous videos of the events and reading the Ministry of Information’s and the party’s replies, I have only one unanswered question: NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
A key message that President Kufuor conveyed during his campaign to win the NPP’s first elections in the year 2000 resonated with Ghanaians and people all over the world: the NPP offered hope for the protection of the rule of law, press freedom, and respect for human rights.
People like myself were compelled to remain party members by this message’s foundation in the party’s doctrine.
Various measures were taken by President Kufuor to guarantee the media received
I find it strange that a tradition whose followers have long been known to value free speech and the rule of law would have them attack a media organization.
These thugs may have drawn inspiration from the way the government and the party permitted impunity to flourish and spread within the NPP.
If I remember correctly, when comparable groups went to the Ashanti region’s seat of government and attacked the then-national security coordinator, no one was allowed to be prosecuted. When these brutes invaded a court in Kumasi, forcing the female judge hearing the case to flee for her life in full view of the public, no one was made to face the law once more.
Many people have come to assume that either party officials have lost moral control over the organization or that they have something to gain from these heinous actions. NPP, how did we get here, is what I question.
