GHANA- Following gunshots fired at a registration centre in the Awutu Senya East constituency, the Public Relations Officer for The Central Regional Command DSP Irene Oppong says it will “invite” the MP to “assist” in investigations.
Speaking in an interview with Citi FM today, DSP Irene Oppong disclosed that “If you intend to invite a sitting MP to come to the police station to assist with the investigation, there is a procedure so we have started the procedure as a police agency and it will be forwarded to her and we expect that she will assist us in this. Police is a procedural work and again we have the service instruction that gives us the directions on how you go about your investigations and we also have the criminal procedure which also aids us in doing our work”.
A disturbance occurred at the Step to Christ registration centre in the Awutu Senya East constituency on Monday, July 20, 2020. The event lead to gun shots being fired and the burning of motorcycles.
The member of parliament for the constituency and Minister for Special Development Initiatives, Honourable Mavis Hawa Koomson has admitted to firing the warning shots “to protect” herself. “When I got the information that people were being bused from some places into my constituency, I couldn’t sit down for people to come and register in my constituency and elect an MP for the people of Kasoa…I work with men because I can’t work with women alone in this political enterprise.
None of my men had guns on them when we got to the centre, I fired the shots myself. Yes, I gave those warning shots to protect myself,” she explained.
Four persons have been arrested since the incident occurred but the minister is yet to be invited for questioning.
DSP Irene Oppong says they “have gathered information through informants and also the media today that there are people who have voluntarily come out to confess their involvement in some of the activities that happened there. They are the people we are inviting to come and help us with investigations. We’ll invite Honourable Mavis Hawa Koomson to come and assist us, but then there is a procedure,”
The Electoral Commission has however condemned disturbances that have characterised the voter registration exercise which begun on June 30, 2020.
In a statement released by the Commission on Monday, July 20 2020, it contained that “The Commission condemns such acts during a civil exercise like the Registration of Voters and calls on security agencies to investigate the issue as a matter of urgency to bring the perpetrators to book.”
It further stated that “We have therefore cautioned against the use of violence to challenge a person’s eligibility. The Commission calls on the public to condemn the violence and urges all eligible voters to turn out in their numbers to register to vote in the 2020 General Election.”
The voter registration aimed at registering eligible voters for the 2020 general elections has been characterised by some acts of violence since it began. Some individuals have been accused of not being eligible to register which has lead to violence in some places like the Ewutu Senya East constituency. A young graduate also got caught in the middle of a brawl between supporters of the NDC and NPP and was stabbed to death. There have been calls to the Ghana Police Service to bring such offenders to book.
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