Six persons are in the grips of the Akim Oda Police following a free-for-all fight which ensued between supporters of two aspirants contesting in the district assembly and unit committee elections at the Tuwobotom electoral area.
According to the police, one Kwame Owusu Asare allegedly slapped one Maxwell Nti after accusing him of using students from the community nursing training school to vote at the polling station.
Maxwell Nti who proceeded to the police station to report the matter was immediately followed by Kwame Asare and some people to prevent him from doing so.
The assailants, and supporters of the two candidates being voted for then engaged in a brawl at the forecourt of the police station which led to the arrest of the six persons.
The Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer DSP Ebenezer Tetteh who confirmed the arrest to Citi News said the six persons which include a pastor will be charged with assault, disturbing public peace after the police conclude their investigations.
He further urged the residents to remain calm to ensure peace in the area.
“Going forward we want to appeal to the assemblymen contestants in Tuwobotom electoral area that they should talk to their supporters to remain calm and they should also try as much as possible to use their influence to calm the situation down so that voting will go on.”
“At the end of the day, when the votes are counted, we also appeal to whoever that is going to win to restrain their jubilation. We don’t want any wild jubilation that will also bring another problem. Meanwhile, based on what has happened, the police will make a special arrangement so that before the declaration is done, our presence will be on the ground to prevent further trouble,” he assured.
Elections boycotted
In another development of issues concerning the elections, residents of Ekumfi-Immuna in the Central Region boycotted the polls over the poor nature of roads in the area.
The residents said they will not take part in any elections until the bad roads in the area are fixed.
Abraham Armah, leader of the group said the youth had been denied access to good roads for a long time.
According to him, the community had consistently voted for the NDC since 1992 until 2016 when they decided to vote for the NPP because they promised to fix their roads.
He said residents have however been disappointed hence their decision to boycott the election.
Visually impaired man prevented from voting
Meanwhile, in Sunyani, officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) at the ‘Sacred Heart A’ polling centre in the Sunyani Municipality of the Bono Region reportedly prevented a visually impaired person from voting.
Information gathered by Citi News suggested that he was barred from voting though he had gone through the required voting process and had been verified.
The Presiding Officer for the centre allegedly prevented him from voting because he was not consulted before he was brought to the centre to be assisted to vote.
The Electoral Commission held the District Assembly Elections nationwide on December 17, 2019.