The Criminal Investigations Department of the Police Service has invited the National chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, over an alleged threat to resist attempts the compilation of a new voters register by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana for the conduct of the 2020 elections.
A Police invitation sighted by www.politicoghana.com asked Mr. Mornah to report to the CID boss on Monday, June 2, 2020.
“The CID Headquarters is investigating a case in which you were alleged to have threatened to resist any attempt by the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new voters register for the 202 general elections. You were also heard in a video interview to have threatened “that people who are already registered are going to be taken out of the voters, don’t you think that confusion will come at the registration station and if confusion come there, you think the EC will be safe, we will beat each other there, we will kill each other there if that is what the EC want to lead this nation to’. This statement was made at a press conference organized by the Inter-Party Against New Registration (IPRAN)on May 26, 2020 in Accra. It would be appreciated if you could report to the Director-General/CID on June 2, 2020 at 10:00am to assist investigations”, the CID letter of invitation to Mornah in part read.
The CID letter of invitation extended to Mornah follows a call by the General Secretary of the same party (PNC), Atik Mohammed, to arrest his boss over his alleged treasonable comments.
Speaking on Accra-based Peace FM on Thursday, May 28, 2020, Atik Mohammed said “Merely being the Chairman of a political party doesn’t give you the license to spew gibberish. And I’m on this occasion inviting the Police that they should invite Bernard Mornah for his comments. If you threaten mayhem; if you threaten violence; chairman (referring to host, Kwame Sefa Kayi), threats of violence, and the visitation of violence on whoever are both offenses under our Criminal Offences Act”.
He added “So, you cannot threaten mayhem against a state agency doing its work within the limits of the law without the police inviting you. What if they wait and you actually give effect to your threats? I believe the Police Administration is not just there to deal with criminals but to ensure that crimes are not even committed in the first place. And so, if somebody is threatening mayhem in this country, the person’s insurance cannot be the fact that he is the Chairman of a particular political party. Ofosu Ampofo is standing trial. He is the Chairman of a political party; I do not see the reason why the Police cannot invite Bernard Mornah”.
Commenting further, Atik Mohammed shared the PNC’s position on the compilation of a new voters register, stressing that the party is in full support of the exercise expected to be carried out the EC, a position which conflicts Mornah’s stance.
“Individuals can hold positions and I think that if you belong to an organization such as a political party, sometimes party discipline requires that if there is a position of a party, you shelve yours because you don’t work for yourself; you work for that entity. But frankly, the PNC is in such a state where there is a little bit of disorder and so you find people acting treasonably to the common good and to the common interest and so I’m not surprised that people will take personal positions contrary to the party’s position. The new registration exercise is a process that is going to deepen our democracy. If we put aside our political interests and speak the truth, I do not see why it is difficult to do a new register”, he noted.
