National Peace Council calls on Police to probe voter registration violence

The National Peace Council (NPC) has called on the Ghana Police Service to initiate swift investigations into the various acts of violence that occurred during the just-ended voter registration exercise.

The NPC in a statement said that, “The NPC encourages the Ghana Police Service and particularly, the Inspector-General of Police to expedite action regarding ongoing investigations into all the criminal matters which came up during the registration exercise.”

It further urged the political parties to abide by the roadmap and code of conduct for the eradication of political vigilantism in the 2020 elections.

The NPC also expressed hope that the EC as well as the security agencies will deal swiftly with the unfortunate incidents at some of the registration centres such as in the Sagnerigu municipality in the Northern Region, adding that stringent measures should be taken by the Police to forestall violence in future exercises.

“Besides the Commission should vigorously pursue and resolve the petitions challenging the registration of some persons estimated at 37,762 representing 0.20% of the total register and update the people in their ‘Let the Citizen Know’ Series,” the statement added.

Whilst conducting the mass registration exercise, there were some violent incidents recorded at some registration centres in the country.

A 28-year-old man was allegedly stabbed at Banda in the Bono Region following a disagreement between some New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters.

In Awutu Senya East, Hawa Koomson, the MP and Minister of State for Special Development Initiatives, claimed she shot into the sky during a confrontation between persons believed to be aligned with the NPP and the NDC.

Both sides claimed they were attacked by each other leading to the shooting and subsequent arrest of four persons in connection with the incident.