Gunshots at Asawase

THE ASOKORE Mampong Township in the Asawase Constituency of the Ashanti Region was a scene of chaos on Saturday after armed policemen fired gunshots to scare away a group of hoodlums who allegedly tried to interrupt the limited voter registration exercise.

The venue of the exercise was reportedly turned into a boxing arena, after the stoutly-built men (machomen) purportedly from both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) exchanged blows.

The fracas, according to reports, started when agents of both the NPP and the NDC complained about supposed minors who were trying to register their names.

The ‘machomen’ of both political parties were allegedly called to the scene and they instantly turned the place into a near war zone, as they exchanged hefty blows and disrupted the registration exercise.

Policemen at the scene were overwhelmed by the turn of events and so called in reinforcement who fired gunshots, sending the fear-stricken thugs running helter-skelter to escape arrest.

Reports suggested that some people at the scene, including one Osman, the NDC agent, sustained various degrees of injury as they attempted to flee the registration centre.

The registration exercise was halted in the process, sources at the scene revealed to DAILY GUIDE later on.

When contacted, ASP Mohammed Yussif Tanko, the Ashanti Regional Police PRO, said some ‘machomen’ were arrested by a few policemen when they tried to disrupt the registration exercise.

According to him, another group of men came to the place and rescued the arrested miscreants and so police reinforcement was called in and they (police personnel) fired gunshots to scare them away for order to be restored.

ASP Tanko said the police were investigating the case in order to arrest those ‘machomen’ who started the trouble, stating that the police were not happy about the unguided utterances of some NDC and NPP officials in the region.

According to him, Justin Kodua, the Ashanti Regional NPP Youth Organiser, had called on NPP faithful in the region to defend themselves because the police were not prepared to ensure that sanity prevailed regarding the registration exercise.

ASP Tanko said Kwame Zu, the NDC Deputy Ashanti Regional Secretary, also charged the NDC supporters to defend themselves because the police were in bed with the NPP in the region.

The police officer urged the public to disregard the falsehoods peddled by the NPP and the NDC since there was no iota of truth in them.

ASP Tanko stated categorically that the police would not allow any political party, especially the NPP and the NDC, to bend the rules covering the limited voter registration exercise to their own benefit.

He therefore entreated both parties to cooperate with the police so that the exercise would go on smoothly.

Andy Osei-Okrah, Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister and Bernard Antwi Boasiako, Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman, rushed to Asokore Mampong Sunday morning to help restore peace to the area.