Some seven supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), suspected to have played various roles in the incident, have already been remanded into prison custody after appearing before a Wa Magistrate Court.

[contextly_sidebar id=”hJFS02nqUCuiDXktSo5mwo34xWmpBMnJ”]The seven, according to the police, are among over 100 persons who are currently on the run.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Public Relations Officer for the Upper West Regional Police Command, Joy Afagbedzi, said the Police are still conducting investigations to a establish prima facie against the suspects after which the arrest will be made.

“We are on the heels of the other suspects involved, and efforts are underway to have them arrested.We are still continuing with investigations and when a prima facie case is established we will have them arrested.”

Mr. Afagbedzi also gave the assurance that the Police will restore calm to the area, saying the fact that “7 were arraigned and other were being hunted shows their commitment to ensuring law and order.”

The youth, who stormed the DCE’s office, accused the DCE, Mohammed Bakor, of engaging in “divide and rule” tactics.

The agitating youth also complained that they were being neglected in favour of people aligned to the DCE, Mohammed Bako.

The Upper West Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan, earlier downplayed the incident, which he said stemmed from a minor disagreement between the NPP youth and the DCE.

Warning to police commanders

A few days ago, the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, warned that Police Commanders who fail to ensure arrests and prosecution in vigilante-related incidents will face sanctions

“If there is any vigilantism in your area, you must investigate and bring them to book otherwise the commander of that area – be it the village, district or regional commanders – must be sanctioned, we must stop it. When incidents occur, you either tell us you’ve arrested the perpetrators and are investigating or you are sanctioned. Whoever it is that’s supposed to sanction but doesn’t do so, will be sanctioned as well. We don’t want any more stories,” the Minister said.

The government’s commitment to security has been questioned following the recent upsurge in the number of incidents involving political vigilante groups across the country.

Several groups of Ghanaian youth, believed to be members of the governing NPP, have gone on rampage at least wreaking havoc at state institutions and attacking public officials.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We’ll arrest all suspects in Sisala West chaos – Police appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Last Friday, the country marked a year since the Supreme Court’s verdict declaring John Dramani Mahama as the legitimate winner of the 2012 Presidential election.

The Supreme Court in the ruling made some recommendations for electoral reforms and hoped that the Electoral Commission would implement them and help eliminate some of the flaws in Ghana’s electoral system as exposed during the election petition case.

Madam Owusu, however, believes that the issues from the previous general elections that were exposed during the hearing have not been resolved by the EC.

“The EC’s conduct during the petition itself demonstrated that, even with the foreign registrations they conducted themselves, there were issues. They have gone ahead without dealing with the flashpoints in 2012 and have done this limited registration,” she stated.

Madam Owusu told Citi News that she believes the register needs to be audited as there is “a risk of having figures that nobody will have confidence in without a credible register.”

She added that the inability of the Electoral Commission to “fix the fundamentals of our electoral system,” could lead to “violence in subsequent elections.”

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Violence looms in 2016 elections unless… – Ursula appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The exercise, which will take place  across 6,000 centers, will allow persons who could not vote during the last registration exercise and those  who turned 18 years after 2012 to register.

The limited voter registration exercise was scheduled to begin on June 20 but was postponed due to  a lawsuit by PNC National Youth Organiser Abu Ramadan, and a lawyer, Kwasi Danso-Acheampong.

The two sued the EC over plans to accept the NHIS card as an acceptable identification card for registration.

The Supreme Court on July 30, 2014 upheld the application challenging the constitutionality of Regulation 1(3)D of C.I 72, which allows the Electoral Commission to use health insurance cards for the voters’ registration exercise.

The EC has since announced that,  in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling,  it will not accept national health insurance cards as a form of identification for the process.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post EC begins limited voters registration today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.