Was Akufo-Addo a warlord for hiring South African mercenaries in 2016? - ASEPA boss on June 4 demo

Court injuncts June 4 demo

Organizers apologize after public backlash

NPP employed mercenaries in lead up to 2016 polls

Mensah Thompson, the Executive Secretary of Civil Society group, the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability, ASEPA, has likened a recent plan to hold an armed protest to the case in 2016 when then opposition candidate Nana Addo

Read full articleDankwa Akufo-Addo flew in South African mercenaries.

According to him, it was a sign of hypocrisy that today young men who have lost trust in the Police are being called out for wanting to contract private security firms to grant them protection during a protest.

He quizzed that if the #FixTheCountry campaigners are classified terrorists for their 'armed' protest, was it the case then that Akufo-Addo back in 2016 was a warlord?

His post of June 2, 2022 read: "The hypocrisy in this Ghanaian system is legendary, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as opposition leader claimed that State Security could not protect he and his Party and so he imported South African Mercenaries to train his party hoodlums on Assault techniques, combat drills and the use of Weapons, we were all here in this Country."

It continued: "Today young men who have lost absolute confidence in the Police because of the recent Police brutalities and murders have decided to contract a domestic private security agency to offer protection to them whilst exercising their constitutional rights and they being labeled as terrorists.

"If the FixtheCountry group are terrorist then who is Akufo-Addo, a war Lord??
This Country and it’s people have short memories indeed!!!" his post concluded.

In the round up to the 2016 General Elections, head of the security of the NPP candidate was reported to have secured the services of the South African mercenaries to train the party's security detail.

Now party spokesperson and Akufo-Addo's spokesperson at the time, Yaw Buaben Asamoa defended the move stressing that the hue and cry by the then government was a case of a regime that wanted to hold on to power at all cost.

The June 4 protest organized by some leading conveners of the #FixTheCountry movement attracted public criticism after it came out that protesters wanted to have armed private security and for members to also be armed.

The group subsequently apologized for their decision whiles Police also secured an injunction that meant the protest did not hold as planned.