The National Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the Ghana Police to apply the same measure to National Democratic Congress (NDC) officials who wear military camouflage. The party’s youth wing has expressed their dissatisfaction with the invitation of their National Youth Organizer, Salam Mustapha, for allegedly wearing military camouflage. The NPP believes that the police should also crack down on NDC members who wear attire that appears to be military camouflage.
Salam Mustapha reported himself to the police in Accra after failing to honor the invitation in Wa due to family circumstances. He was accompanied by about 100 members of the youth wing, including some regional and national executives. The Deputy National Youth Organizer of the NPP, Isaac Jay Hyde, has stated that it was not a big deal for his boss to have put on a camouflage and called on the police not to be selective in its invitations when NDC leaders also commit the same offense.
Isaac Hyde also denied that his boss wore military camouflage and added that he got the attire from a store in the UK. Investigations are still ongoing. The Deputy National Youth Organizer of the NPP also asked if every material of military design is regarded as military apparel which citizens are not supposed to wear.
It is important to note that six executives of the NDC in the Ashanti Region were summoned by the Ashanti Regional Police Command and questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department after being seen in viral photos on social media wearing military camouflage during former President Mahama’s recent campaign tour in the Ashanti Region.
The call by the NPP for the police to apply the same measure to NDC officials who wear military camouflage is a reasonable one. The law should be enforced without fear or favor. If the police are going to crack down on one political party for wearing military camouflage, then they should do the same for the other parties. The police should not be seen as taking sides in any political issue.
It is also important for citizens to abide by the law and not flout it by wearing attire that appears to be military camouflage. Such attire should only be worn by members of the military or law enforcement agencies. The police have a duty to ensure that citizens abide by the law, and citizens should cooperate with them in this regard.
In sum, the call by the NPP for the police to apply the same measure to NDC officials who wear military camouflage is a reasonable one. The police should enforce the law without fear or favor, and citizens should abide by the law and not flout it by wearing attire that appears to be military camouflage. Let us all work together to maintain peace and order in our country.
