Police in the Adeiso District of the Eastern Region, stood by and watched as a journalist, together with some Assembly members, were assaulted by irate youth believed to be New Patriotic Party supporters during an election to choose a Presiding Member for the Adeiso District Assembly.
The Oman FM journalist covering the election, Isaac Ofori, narrated to Citi News that he in particular, was slapped in the full glare of the District Commander, ASP Abrefi Yeboah, and other police officers in uniform.
[contextly_sidebar id=”xQSrJsrVZ9cXQJNk1ydiEmOwuwgLTIHC”]The Adeiso District Police have since said it has begun investigations into the circumstances that led to the incident, but no arrests have been made despite the seeming abundance of evidence.
NPP youth group beats Assembly Members at Adeiso
The Adeiso Police are situated just about 10 meters from the election venue that saw chaos erupt.
The angry youth, known as the Party Royals, besieged the Pentecost Church where the election was taking place, and sparked the chaos, after their preferred candidate, Eric Kwesi Mensah, did not get the required two-thirds of votes for the position of Presiding Member.
After the vote, which was tied at 19 apiece, the Electoral Commission announced a break ahead of an expected second round of voting.
“All of a sudden, some guys came to the room and took the ballot box away. It was a misunderstanding between the guys and the police,” Isaac Ofori recounted.
“As a journalist, I decided to take some shots, but before I could do that, one of the guys slapped me and I fell on the ground,” he added.
Police ignored judge’s pleas
Isaac Ofori, also noted that, the police even failed to act on the orders of a judge, who was at the scene.
“The police were there, but they couldn’t make any arrests. Even the judge who is supposed to come and do the confirmation of the Presiding member was calling for their arrest but nothing happened.
The Police Commander was around at the time, along with his men, so Isaac Ofori said, he “didn’t see the reason why they did not arrest anybody.”
The incident has been juxtaposed with the attempt by some Togolese to stage an unlawful protest in Accra, but were swiftly clamped down by the police at Nima over the weekend, and they are getting ready to put them before court today [Monday].
This has again fueled concerns that such NPP youth are being protected because their government is in power.
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By: Neil Amartey Kanarku & Delali Adogla-Bessa /citifmonline.com/Ghana