FULL TEXT: NPP’s True State of the Nation Address

Ghana has been ranked the second safest destination in Africa by Altezza Travel, a global tourism firm. According to their 2025 tourism report, Ghana boasts a remarkably low crime rate, surpassing even countries like Canada, Greece, and Australia in terms of safety. In the Terrorism Index, it is among the countries with a zero score. Its crime rate is lower than Canada, Greece, and Australia. With regards to the Global Peace Index, Ghana surpassed Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, China, and even
Jamaica.

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Under President Akufo Addo, a deliberate policy and planning had enhanced Ghana’s peace and security. The crime rate in the country for instance, had reduced significantly following the increase in police visibility. The visibility has brought discipline on the roads and made communities safer.

However, in a rather contrasting and worrying view, following the election of President Mahama in the 2024 general elections, several acts of lawlessness and violence have erupted in the country leading to the arrest of over 100 people suspected to be supporters of the ruling party. (BBC, December 11, 2024).

Supporters of the newly elected president who want jobs have allegedly attacked some state institutions, looted properties, and engaged in disturbances that have left some police and military personnel injured. Below are details of some of these acts of violence and lawlessness:

• a. At Ayensuano, angry youth set the Electoral Commission office ablaze. The arson, reportedly carried out by individuals dissatisfied with the declaration of results, symbolises a loss of faith in the fairness and credibility of Ghana’s electoral processes.
• b. The standoff at the Ghana Gas Headquarters, where security forces fired warning shots to disperse a crowd of protesters.
• c. In Mamobi, hooded individuals paraded through the streets on vehicles and motorbikes.
• d. In Obuasi, civilians and party members were in direct showdown with military officers. Several shooting incidents led to four dead and many injured.
• e. In Damongo, frustrated youth storm Damongo Municipal Collation Centre and set the EC office ablaze. The fire caused extensive damage to the building and its contents. The violence resulted in the death of one person and the burning of the district office of the Electoral Commission.
• f. Eight suspects were arrested for attacking the Metro Mass Transit workshop in Sunyani, Bono Region. Suspects unlawfully entered the workshop premises and attacked and threatened workers, forcing them to vacate their offices.
• g. A wave of violence swept through Ejura Police station as angry Zongo youth attacked a local police station, freeing suspects on remand and setting the police station on fire.
• h. The lifeless body of a final-year Biological Sciences student of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology was discovered near the KNUST Disability and Rehabilitation Centre.
• i. The Council of State elections in the Ashanti Region descended into chaos as a group of unidentified thugs stormed the election center, disrupting the sorting and counting of ballots.
• j. In Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo chieftaincy clash, four people lost their lives, and six others sustained gunshots wounds in attacks on the Nanik and Nganme Gberuk communities in Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo district of the North East Region on Friday, February 28.
• k. Four students were arrested at Weija Divisional Police Command after a clash ensued between some students of Christian Methodist Senior High School and local youth over a missing mobile phone at the school’s premises at Aplaku. Some of the youth were trading blows, and in some instances, clubs were used, resulting in some students sustaining injuries while some school properties were also destroyed.
• l. Five students sustained severe injuries, with several others suffering minor wounds, after violence erupted during a peace ceremony between students of Bawku Senior High School and Bawku Technical Institute.
• m. Twenty students from Salaga Senior High School in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region have been arrested following a violent clash that left one person with multiple stab wounds. Law enforcement officers seized a locally manufactured pistol and a round of ammunition from the scene. Of the twenty students, 17 have been granted bail, while three remain in custody.

It is sad to mention that because of the insecurity situation in our country, the EC has not been able to conclude Ablekuma Parliamentary Election declaration. This certainly is a dark spot in our democratic dispensation given that the people of Ablekuma are currently not having a representative in parliament.

Insecurity in the Bawku area continues to heighten in recent times, with a woman and her two children being tragically murdered in their home by gun men on February 9, 2025. Again, on February 25, 2025, a 13-year-old boy was killed in the same township.

The indiscriminate killing of the indigenes of Walewale and its environs is getting out of hand with the imposition of curfew in the area. Government needs to decouple Politics from Security and ensure that every Ghanaian is protected.

Mr. President, the insecurity situation in our country is indeed very worrying. As you refuse to act decisively, the security agencies have become powerless, and this continue to embolden thugs of your party who visit mayhem on innocent Ghanaians daily. Sadly, the homes of some former public servants have been raided in “Rambo-style” that can only be akin to what happens in a military coup de-tat. For many Ghanaians, this is reminding them of the dark days of our nation’s history. The President must act. And indeed, action is required now.

Rather strangely, whilst officials of the NPP administration are being harassed and investigated, former officials of the NDC government who were on judicial trials have been cleared of all criminal charges against them; and in some cases have been rewarded with juicy appointments like the current Governor of the Bank of Ghana. Today, we are being told that crime has party colours, and our country has been turned into an Animal Farm where “Four legs good, Two legs bad”.