The running mate of the National Democratic Congress’s Presidential nominee, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has lashed out that, the increasing disregard of law and order at voters’ registration centres in the country is because there have been selective application of the law.
According to her, the current conditions under which the registration exercise is being undertaken is worrying enough for the country to accommodate violence. These violent acts, in her view, are untoward, indecent and mars Ghana’s reputation internationally.
“All we are we doing right now is what has been and has always been a very simple exercise of registration. What is not so simple, this time, is that the exercise is taking place in a time of a dreadful pandemic that is still evolving, and in our case, still rising. As if all of this is not bad enough, the level of violence, brute force, bloodletting and sheer breakdown of law and order in an otherwise straight forward act of registering to vote, is unbecoming of our country.
“Especially, of a country that until recently was hailed as the fulcrum of democracy in our region.”
Her comments come after the Member of Parliament for the Awutu Senya East Constituency, Hawa Koomson, admitted to firing a gun at a voters’ registration centre in the constituency on Monday, July 20.
Speaking at a ceremony which officially out doored her as the running mate of John Mahama for the 2020 elections at the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), on Monday, 27 July 2020, Prof Naana Opoku-Agyemang asked, “How did we descend into this situation?”
According to the Former Education Minister under the erstwhile John Mahama Administration,
“The answer is simple. When there appears to be selective justice. When some offenders are not even placed on the hook but are hailed and promoted and excused for being nasty and violent, the logical outcome is what we see. This situation of people dying, being harassed because they have decided to register to vote is not a story you can tell any child in the future.”
After the MP’s admission, numerous members of the New Patriotic Party have come to her defence. These members are no minnows as they include the party’s Chairman and National Organizer.
Mr Sammy Awuku, who is the party’s National Organizer, after touring the site of the commotion, wrote on his Facebook page that, “We continued our monitoring of the ongoing Voter Registration Exercise in Awutu Senya East (Kasoa), Efutu, Cape Coast and other parts of the Central Region today! Kudos to our Parliamentary Candidates, Party Executives and Our Agents for their resilience and vigilance so far.”
With a groundswell of backlash against the actions of the MP who doubles as a Minister, the NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay has indicated that, “there is no evidence of any sort that can suggest her to be a violent individual.”
Many individuals including, the National Peace Council, Christian Council, IMANI Ghana, OccupyGhana, some journalists, security experts and prominent academicians have called for the dismissal of the minister but according to Mr Blay, such calls are “absolutely needless”, and as such the population must “totally disregarded” them.
The chairman who is also a former MP added that,
“it is clear that her actions were in self-defence to the unwarranted attacks on her and her team by masked motorists invited by the NDC to disrupt the EC registration process in her constituency.”
Departing from the views of the NPP stalwarts, the National Chairman of the NDC, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo has called on President Akufo-Addo to rise above partisan politics and ensure peace and stability is kept well in the country.
“The posture of Akufo-Addo is not the best, you know what has happened to one of his Ministers who went into a polling centre and fired warning gunshots. Today, as we speak, the president has not said anything about it or reprehended her or done anything to her and I believe that the posture of the president and the posture of his appointees run contrary to the very law that he passed quickly which is the vigilantism bill and other related offences bill. He is not living up to what he professes to be.”
Even though, the Special Development Initiatives Minister said in an interview that, she only fired the shots when her life was threatened by some thugs alleged to be affiliated to the opposition NDC, she was subsequently arrested and her gun and its license were seized by the Central Regional Police Command.
Commenting on the issue, Prof Ransford Gyampo, who is a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana pointed out that, because of provocations, which often lead to clashes during such moments, the EC must ensure that, it put measures in place to prevent these kerfuffles from occurring.
More so, he emphasized that, political party leaders do not have the power to solve issues at registering centres, particularly when there are security agencies and EC officials present.
