Mr. Yohane Amarh Ashitey, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive and parliamentary candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Tema East, has denied allegations of raising political tension ahead of the December 7 general elections.
In a response to accusations from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after the removal of a campaign poster of former President John Dramani Mahama, the flag bearer of the NDC, from a billboard in front of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly’s (TMA) premises in Tema Community One on Friday.
A tense scene was observed by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the forecourt of the TMA on Friday afternoon when staff of Alliance Media Ghana, an advertising company, attempted to remove the said campaign poster of Mr. Mahama, as supporters vehemently opposed it and insisted that it should be re-fixed since their party had duly paid for it.
The NDC subsequently, in a statement, cautioned the NPP against raising the political temperature, noting the act of removing the poster was unacceptable and constituted a needless provocative attempt to raise the political temperature in the country.
The statement said the advert was legally posted there by the private advertising company.
But responding to the allegations, the MCE, who also doubles as the Tema Metropolitan Security Council (MESEC) Chairman, stated in a release that “these allegations are unfounded and indeed a figment of the authors own imagination.”
He said the facts were that “as contained in the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, Section 248(1) and (2), District Assemblies were non-partisan in the performance of its roles. i.e., in the election of its members, its operation, and in the provision of its platforms for political promotion and related activities.”
He said it was in that light that the Assembly was mindful not to unduly avail itself of immediate precincts for political advertisements and programmes, since that had the tendency to create unnecessary repercussions amongst competing political interests.
“Since the erection of the said Political Flexy a couple of days ago, the TMA has been inundated with several complaints from members of the public with a call on management to demonstrate its non-partisan stance by re-enforcing its neutrality in matters of this nature since that location is the forecourt of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly,” the MCE stated.
Mr. Ashitey indicated that these and other concerns led to the advice given by the management of TMA to Alliance Media, the advertising agency, to rethink the suitability of the location. “The call was actually for them to look for another location that serves the same purpose.”
“This harmless advice, which was given in good faith, had been misconstrued and given a political twist. This doesn’t come as a surprise to us given that the MCE is contesting for the parliamentary seat on the ticket of the Ruling government. This mudslinging is associated with the political season, and we are not perturbed by them,” it stressed.
The release added that “we wish to state that the allegations in the press release are unfounded, false, and a calculated attempt to stir the emotions of the public against the persona of the MCE and, by extension, the Assembly. Same must be treated with the contempt that it deserves.”
He called for calm amongst members of the public, assuring that the TMA was working to ensure that the peace that has prevailed in the area for the past couple of years during his tenure of office remained as the country prepared for the elections.
Source: GNA
