The Ghana Armed Forces has responded to the General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on why there is a Military presence in Banda.
General Mosquito as he is affectionately called was seen in a video angrily exchanging words with the Military men who had blocked some people he was bussing to a registration center to register for the new voters ID.
Asiedu Nketia was heard in the video questioning the presence of the Military at the registration centre since they had no ‘business there’.
But the Ghana Armed Forces(G.A.F) in a statement said the deployment of Military men followed a request made by the Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
According to G.A.F, the deployment was because both political parties including the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress were busing people to the registration centers which led to an altercation that led to the death of one person.
The flagbearer of the NDC has condemned the move by the government to use the Military to intimidate citizens and prevent them from registering because of claims that they belong to a particular tribe so they are not Ghanaians.
Below is the full stastement from G.A.F:
That the REGSEC will give the necessary security to the Banda Constituency and the entire Region, before, during and after the process of the 7th December Election. The REGSEC and the Electoral Commission and other stakeholders should meet the Chiefs to determine the boundaries of Banda.
The two Parliamentary Candidates (Mr. Joe Danquah and Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim MP) should stop bussing people to the registration centres, if indeed they were ordinary residents; they should go there on their own volition.
Political parties should educate their agents at the registration centres to fill challenge forms in challenging people whose citizenship or residency they doubted.
That no physical violence should be used in preventing people from registering.
That the two candidates should pledge their support to ensure peace in the Constituency by signing the Peace Agreement offered by REGSEC
The security agencies were therefore available to support the REGSEC-brokered Agreement. No specific ethnic group was targeted in this regard. The general public is accordingly informed of these developments.
SIGNED
E AGGREY-QUASHIE
Colonel
Director Public Relations
Issued by the Public Relations Directorate, General Headquarters, Burma Camp, Accra
Tel: +233-544338030 Fax: +233-302772241
Email: [email protected]
Release No.20
August 2, 2020
Source: My News GH