Member of Parliament for the Karaga constituency, Hon Alhassan Sualihu Dandaawa

Member of Parliament for the Karaga constituency, Hon Alhassan Sualihu Dandaawa has taken a swipe at the 2020 New Patriotic Party Parliamentary Candidate in the area Dr Mohammed Amin Adam (Anta) for calling for his arrest in connection with the violence that ensued between some youth of the NPP and the NDC in the constituency earlier this week.

Mr. Dandaawa refuted the allegations against him that he is behind the violence emanating from the constituency and said the call made by the Deputy Minister of Energy for his arrest is baseless and stressed that, “I believe you cannot arrest somebody without evidence and there is no iota of truth in what he (Anta) is saying.”

He said what happened in the constituency is not the first of its kind and recounted that during the voter registration exercise some NDC members were once again attacked and sustained severe injuries. However, he noted as somebody who has so much respect for the rule of law the due process must followed in anything that happened.

He added the issue was reported to the police but there was no single arrest made to that effect. He further alleged that during the mob-up exercise of the registration exercise the immediate past DCE for Karaga was also manhandled and assaulted at the district office of the electoral commission.

In an exclusive interview, the Karaga lawmaker told THE CUSTODIAN he would be the last person to incite violence or any act of impunity in the constituency because he was elected by the people to represent them in Parliament. The NDC legislator rather accused the Deputy Minister for perpetuating violence in the constituency.

“He knows what he is saying; he knows he is the one behind what is happening. This is not the first time I am running as MP, I run in 2012, 2016 and you can check from the records; in 2012 not a single person was stoned, not a single blood was dropped and the same thing in 2016 but why 2020 now?” he questioned.   

“He thinks he can use foul means to get what he wants but he cannot get what he is looking for. He is the one behind all these violence and I have evidence that I would present it at the right time” Dandaawa further alleged.  

Meanwhile, the incident that happened left some six individuals sustaining machete wounds. However, police in the northern region says one person has been arrested in connection with the violence.