Prior to the general elections in 2024, Mustapha Gbande, the Deputy National Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has issued a stern warning to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
His responses follow President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo‘s remarks on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in which he congratulated the NDC on winning the Assin North by-election.
He claimed that the outcome and the way it was handled only served to strengthen Ghana’s democratic credentials.
James Gyakye Quayson of the NDC, whose dual citizenship controversy sparked the by-election, won with a commanding 57.56 percent of the vote.
He defeated his rivals from the NPP and Ghana’s Liberal Party (LPG).
However, Mustapha Gbande claimed that Nana Addo’s congratulations to the NDC were “needless” because the president purposefully omitted to address the various assaults on NDC national executive members in his message.
The President, he said, should publicly denounce the attacks that took place during the by-election because of his ‘hypocritical’ stance.
According to him, “If he [President Nana Addo] doesn’t condemn the attempt by the government and the NPP to kill the National Youth Organizer of the NDC, the attempt to kill the National Communication Officer of the NDC, the attempt to kill the deputy National Communication Officer of the NDC…Nana Addo didn’t see that?“
He claimed that the party is getting ready for the 2024 general elections very well in the wake of the violent attacks on the NDC National Executives.
He declared that the NDC would adhere to the “eye for an eye” principle going into the 2024 elections.
He continued by saying that the NDC would shoot any NPP members in retaliation if they shot any NDC members.
“We are well prepared, we will return to them the same gesture if the need arises…If they shoot one NDC member we’ll also shoot an NPP member, that’s the way to go in 2024,” Mustapha Gbande declared.
Charles Opoku, a candidate for the NPP, finished in second place with 12,630 votes, or 42.15 percent, and Gyakye Quayson took first place with 17,245 votes, or 57.56 percent of the valid votes cast.
Sefenu Bernice Enyonam, a candidate for the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), received 87 votes, or 0.29 percent.
