Deputy National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress [NDC], Kwaku Boahen, has stated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should be blamed for the recent kidnappings in Ghana.
Kwaku Boahen asserted that the unavailability of jobs for the youth, coupled with the hardship under Nana Addo is what may have forced some of the youth into the canker of kidnapping for ransom.
According to the police, three girls were kidnapped in Takoradi in the Western Region between August and December 2018.
Priscilla Mantebea Koranchie, Priscilla Blessing Bentum and Ruth Love Quayson were kidnapped and have not been released despite their families paying ransom to the kidnappers.
The Ghana Police Service has sought assistance from the US and UK to help with investigations. The only suspect arrested, Samuel Udoetuk Wills, broke out of jail and was later rearrested at Nkroful near Takoradi. He is currently standing trial for escaping from jail, but had refused to give police any significant leads for the arrest of his accomplices.
Speaking on Happy FM’s ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show, Kwaku Boahen said that Nana Addo should squarely be held responsible because Ghanaians are going through hardship, forcing the youth to engage in illegal activities to feed themselves.
“Ghanaians must blame Nana Addo and his government for the recent kidnappings happening in the country. We are facing all this because of the hardship they -NPP government- have brought onto us. People are doing all sort of illegal work to get money due to the economic hardship under President Akufo-Addo,” he said.
However, President Akufo-Addo’s third State of the National Address (SONA) to Parliament did not touch on the recent kidnappings in the country. But the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery, has said that the security apparatus is doing all it can to track the people who got kidnaped between August and December last year.
By: Joseph Nii Ankrah