The Ashanti Regional Police Command has met the various political parties over recent pockets of violence that have characterized the limited voter registration exercise in the region.
The Regional Commander, DCOP Nathan Kofi Boakye, told reporters that several incidents had marred the voter registration process in the region.
The Electoral Commission, on Monday August 4, began a nationwide process across 6,000 centres, to register Ghanaians who turned 18 after the 2012 general elections and adults who could not register during the previous registration exercises.
According to DCOP Boakye, the police in the Ashanti region have received reports that “the equipment of the Electoral Commission had been smashed by a group of people,” while somebody was allegedly stabbed in Abrotia.
He revealed that as a result of the reports, “about 120 police officers will be deployed to go to every station” to oversee the exercise.
DCOP Boakye was speaking at a meeting with the executives of the political parties and warned them not to send “thugs to the polling station” who might try to interfere with the exercise
“The registration equipment, the registration agents and all the materials used for the registration are out of bounds to everybody apart from the accredited people,” he said.
He added that the policemen had been instructed “to do all that is necessary and take any action to stop people from interfering with the exercise.”
Meanwhile, the regional Chairmen of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have pledged their commitment to ensuring that the voter registration exercise goes on smoothly.
Both men, however, added that while they are “brothers,” they would not hesitate to retaliate if the lives of their agents were threatened or if they suspected that there were“any malpractices.”
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana