‘Tag NPP with corruption, silence the opposition’ – Afenyo-Markin accuses govt of intimidation strategy

Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has warned the government against what he describes as excessive intimidation of the opposition, cautioning that the New Patriotic Party could one day return to power. Speaking on Joy News’ The Probe on Sunday, he said the government’s approach to accountability could create a cycle of political retaliation if not moderated. Afenyo-Markin said some NPP MPs were being investigated over what he considers mere allegations.

“The other challenge, really, is that, unfortunately, this government has made intimidation part of its strategy of silencing the minority,” he said. “I tell you, how are they doing that? A couple of my colleagues are being investigated for things that, in my view, are mere allegations that are not supposed to take their time to those investigative agencies.” He declined to name the MPs involved but said the situation was worrying.

“There are times that a colleague would have to speak, and he will boldly tell you that, Leader, if I make any submission today, the BNI guys will call me. Afenyo-Markin said he had raised concerns about what he described as the excesses of investigations with senior government officials. “I’ve had cause to complain to some of the senior members of government that, Colleagues, watch some of these things,” he said.

He stressed that the NPP was not opposed to accountability. “By the way, I have said time without number, and for the umpteenth time, I repeat that our party is not against accountability,” he said. “As for post-regime accountability, it’s there for everybody.” But Afenyo-Markin said accountability must not be used to intimidate political opponents unnecessarily.

“I am dealing with the excesses thereto. You see, you can enforce the law with a human face without unnecessarily intimidating the person,” he said. He argued that MPs should be allowed to perform their parliamentary duties without feeling that their submissions could trigger investigations.

“For instance, a member of parliament should go through investigations normally. You shouldn’t only call him when he’s arguing forcefully on the floor, and you think that that is going against the government,” he said. The Minority Leader said he was warning against a political culture in which parties retaliate against one another upon gaining power.