VVIOLENT clashes between supporters of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) were recorded during the ongoing limited registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC) across the country.
Violence
erupted last Friday at Asokore-Mampong in the Asawase Constituency in Kumasi,
leaving at least three people, including a woman, injured when supporters of
the two political parties pelted each other with bricks and stones amid
wrestling and throwing of fisticuffs.
DAILY
GUIDE gathered that the fight,
which began at the precinct of the EC office, broke out when some top NDC
members attacked one NPP supporter called Zeinab Jibril.
Zeinab
was said to have been given a double slap by an NDC leader in the constituency
after she pulled off the veil of a lady the NDC member had brought to the
registration centre to register.
Immediately
after the double slap, it became free-for-all fights when some members of the
NPP went to Zeinab’s rescue. It angered the NDC supporters who started throwing
punches and stones.
In
the course of the melee, windscreens of vehicles were smashed, while three
people sustained injuries on their cheeks, ears and hands. All the injured were
treated and discharged by the Manhyia Government Hospital on Friday shortly
after the incident.
Hohoe Violence
At
Hohoe in the Volta Region, more than 150 registration forms were destroyed by
agents of the NPP and the NDC following a misunderstanding between the party
agents over the data captured by the officials of the EC.
The
scuffle disrupted and delayed the registration process for about five hours.
An
NPP agent had challenged the eligibility of a registered voter and claimed
there were discrepancies between the data captured daily about the voters by
the EC and the data recorded by the NPP.
Anthony
Kondobrey, the NPP’s Hohoe Constituency Chairman, said the party became alarmed
on Thursday, 27 June, 2019, when the EC’s data on registered voters showed that
200 registrants had been captured by the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR)
machines as compared to the 145 recorded by the party’s agent.
He
said the party became more vigilant and challenged the registration of some
unqualified persons.
George
Bright Anni Bansah, the NDC Hohoe Constituency Chairman, however, said the
discrepancy occurred only once, and did not warrant intimidation of first-time
qualified voters by the NPP.
He
called on the police to arrest those behind the destruction of the materials,
saying their actions were against the law.
Kwabena Karikari, the Hohoe Municipal Electoral Officer, confirmed the destruction of the materials and said none of the parties called on the EC to express any grievances.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi with additional files from GNA
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