Carl Wilson must not go down alone - Kwesi Pratt

Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has described locking out of party leaders by some members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) as disgraceful to the government and the country as a whole. Speaking during a panel discussion on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme on Friday, Mr Pratt said because of the personal and individual interest of some party members, the image of the government was being tarnished. Irate youth of the party Thursday morning besieged the party's headquarters, locked out national officers denying them access to their offices and demanding the dismissal of Mr Carl Wilson. Mr Pratt described the action as shameful, saying, “I am so disappointed...what disgraceful behaviour is this?” According to him, the action by the NDC youth created a scene of insecurity, thus playing into the hands of the opposition. "...insecurity costs government more and in fact the opposition benefits from insecurity. So it is the responsibility of those in government to first and foremost promote security and a certain level of stability. Unfortunately, it is the NDC in government who are destabilizing everything...because they want just one person dismissed, not a Minister not an MP...haba," he screamed. He wondered what the reaction of the security agencies would be should members of the opposition hit the streets when one of their leaders is arrested. "What will the NDC say? It is this culture of impunity which has infiltrated our country that we have to fight. It is terrible and people in gov't should set a better example than those in opposition," he noted. He continued; "Kwami, because of the action by this group of NDC fanatics, all attention was focused on Carl Wilson...no mention is made of the 1.6million jobs created by government...the amount of money government paid to GCB (Ghana Commercial Bank) to cover part of the TOR debt..Price Risk Policy for the NPA was agreed by government...all these issues were shelved...because of the behaviour by these NDC youth...people have to start thinking...there is no sense in this...if this is what they will do, 2012 is just around the corner...what disgraceful behaviour is this, totally disgraceful behaviour," Mr. Pratt fumed. Commenting on the dismissal of Mr. Carl Wilson, Chairman of the Confiscated Vehicles Allocation Committee, by President Mills, the Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper said, “it is obvious that he was sacked based on allegations.” He questioned why Carl Wilson was given the boot without any formal investigation into the allegations. "It doesn't matter whether its Carl Wilson or not, whoever is at the receiving end of such a decision, we need to [be worried]. If I were to be a member of the NDC party, I would be very sad and ashamed of myself...it's low, it's illegal...it's obvious his dismissal is based purely on allegations from party members and foot soldiers," he said. He said the police or a committee should have conducted further investigations to truly find out if he was culpable, adding that a competent court of jurisdiction should have processed his case to find out whether he was guilty or not. However, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. opined that though Carl Wilson was removed for no stated reasons, there were certain actions he took that were not pleasant at all. "There are allegations that he seized old cars imported into the country on the basis that they were outmoded, environmentally unfriendly and would be of no help to our economy...yet he turns round and gives them to party members or sells them to cronies," he said. Referring to the policy of seizing some vehicles, he said: “It is a particularly senseless policy....it happened in the NPP era and the same policy is being replicated by this administration...how do you sell a "stolen" car to someone else...it must be stopped with immediate effect," he stated. Source: Alex Ofei/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana