The National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons is calling for more sensitization in the Banda Constituency in the Bono Region in the run-up to the December polls.
Senior Programmes Officer at the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Leonard Tettey, made the appeal during a sensitization programme with the two parliamentary candidates in the Constituency, Ahmed Ibrahim and Joe Dankwa.
Leonard Tettey speaking at sensitization noted that: “We are still concerned about issues in Banda. There are still underlying issues that we think as a Commission needs to be addressed seriously. We are therefore calling on all stakeholders to as a matter of urgency bring attention to Banda. This seems to be a very critical area and as a Commission, we are very worried about it. We are ready to share the various issues we picked up with anyone who is interested so that we make sure Banda does not erupt. From the indications we are having, we are not satisfied with the issues here at Banda.”
The two candidates contesting in the parliamentary election all pledged their support to ensure violence-free elections in the constituency.
Ahmed Ibrahim, the sitting MP, said, “I want to use this opportunity to pledge my support to the National Peace Council and the Small Arms Commission that whatever the outcome of the December 7 elections, I will stand by it. And I know that just as we have been doing, we in the NDC from the presidency to myself as the PC, we will go by the declaration of the EC.”
Joe Dankwa, the NPP parliamentary candidate on his part disclosed that “From our end, we have decided to go by the rules of the game before, during and after the elections. We have learnt some lessons from what happened during the registration, it was unfortunate. The name of the District was all over, so we decided from our end to resolve issues and make sure that what happened during the registration would not happen again.”
The Banda constituency in the Bono Region has been in the news for the bad reasons– electoral violence.
During the Electoral Commission’s Voters’ registration exercise, the Constituency experienced violence which led to the death of one person and many sustaining injuries.
The community has therefore been listed among the seven hotspots in the Bono Region by the Ghana Police Service.