Former President John Dramani Mahama has clarified that when he told National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters to “do or die,” he did not intend for them to use violence.
He claimed that the statement was taken to mean violence inadvertently.
On Wednesday, Mr. Mahama addressed NDC representatives in the Fanteakwa South Constituency of the Eastern Region: “The 2024 general election is not a joke, that is why I said it is ‘do or die’. Some have twisted the do-or-die comment that we intend to inflict wounds on people with machetes, no, that is not do-or-die. Do-or die means we have to work hard to win the elections at all cost. It doesn’t mean we are going to inflict machete wounds on people.”
To have John Mahama detained for making the “do or die” remarks, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) earlier today submitted a petition to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service.
The NPP, led by Nana Boakye, its national organizer, claimed that Mr. Mahama had frequently said that the 2024 general elections would be “do or die” for the NDC.
The party said “It is, in fact, a no secret that the NDC has always resorted to violence and intimidation against their opponents during the conduct of general elections, and this was summed up by their 2024 presumptive presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama. He has stated emphatically that: ‘NDC has revolutionary root, and that when it comes to unleashing violence, nobody can beat us [NDC] in unleashing violence’.”
The governing party also said “Other leading members of the NDC, including Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the national chairman of the Party, have made similar threatening and malicious comments. Indeed, following his election as National Chairman, Asiedu Nketiah stated in his victory speech that, the NDC would fight the 2024 general elections to win a second independence for Ghana, and that, they are prepared to sacrifice everything including their lives for an NDC victory.”
This comes a day after Bryan Acheampong, the minister of agriculture, was petitioned to be detained by the IGP by Abraham Amaliba, the NDC’s director of legal affairs.
