TENSION MOUNTS AT AKWATIA (PAGE 12)

POLITICAL tension is brewing at Akwatia following an alleged assault of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Youth Organiser for the Akwatia Constituency by thugs believed to be sympathisers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) last Wednesday.
The victim, Mr Emmanuel Acheampong was alleged to have been slapped from behind and kicked several times by the thugs who also destroyed his mobile phone.
The three alleged assailants, two of them twins, who were said to be residents of Akwatia Zongo, confronted Mr Acheampong when he went to buy food from a spot near his house at about 10 p.m.
After the assault, he was reported to have been rushed to the St Dominic’s Hospital at Akwatia, where he was treated and discharged the same day.
Briefing the Daily Graphic on the incident in a telephone interview, the NPP parliamentary candidate for the Akwatia Constituency, Dr Kofi Asare, said, rumours are rife in the town that the thugs were allegedly ordered to kill Mr Acheampong”.
Dr Asare appealed to the police to carry immediate investigations into the incident and arrest the three assailants in order to calm tension in the town, failure of which the conduct of a smooth rerun of the parliamentary election at Akwatia on August 18, this year, might be marred.
“Since the incident took place, we have not seen any attempt on the part of the police to investigate and arrest the assailants who may be emboldened to mete out similar assaults on other NPP activists in the town”, he stressed.
According to Dr Asare, if the police failed to conduct immediate investigations into the assault, they would only “succeed in confirming the people’s fear that the police are only out to protect members of the NDC and not those belonging to the NPP”.
Dr Asare added, “failure of the police to find the assailants will also compel the people, especially sympathisers of the NPP to advise themselves and take control of their own security”.
He particularly appealed to President John Evans Atta Mills to act as a true father of the nation by ordering investigations into the incident, stressing “we must not see him as a father in words but also in action”.
On the upcoming rerun of the parliamentary election, Dr Asare appealed to the security forces, especially the police to be impartial in the discharge of their professional duty, emphasising “they must appear to be protector of all people not just a few during the election”.
When contacted on the incident, sources at the Akwatia police station indicated that although they had heard of the reported assault on the NPP Youth Organiser, “the party executive have not made any complaint to the Akwatia police”.