VIOLENT clashes between supporters of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) were recorded during the ongoing limited registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC) across the country.
Violence erupted last Friday at Asokore-Mampong in the Asawase Constituency in Kumasi, leaving at least three people, including a woman, injured when supporters of the two political parties pelted each other with bricks and stones amid wrestling and throwing of fisticuffs.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that the fight, which began at the precinct of the EC office, broke out when some top NDC members attacked one NPP supporter called Zeinab Jibril.
Zeinab was said to have been given a double slap by an NDC leader in the constituency after she pulled off the veil of a lady the NDC member had brought to the registration centre to register.
Immediately after the double slap, it became free-for-all fights when some members of the NPP went to Zeinab’s rescue. It angered the NDC supporters who started throwing punches and stones.
In the course of the melee, windscreens of vehicles were smashed, while three people sustained injuries on their cheeks, ears and hands. All the injured were treated and discharged by the Manhyia Government Hospital on Friday shortly after the incident.
Hohoe Violence
At Hohoe in the Volta Region, more than 150 registration forms were destroyed by agents of the NPP and the NDC following a misunderstanding between the party agents over the data captured by the officials of the EC.
The scuffle disrupted and delayed the registration process for about five hours.
An NPP agent had challenged the eligibility of a registered voter and claimed there were discrepancies between the data captured daily about the voters by the EC and the data recorded by the NPP.
Anthony Kondobrey, the NPP’s Hohoe Constituency Chairman, said the party became alarmed on Thursday, 27 June, 2019, when the EC’s data on registered voters showed that 200 registrants had been captured by the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) machines as compared to the 145 recorded by the party’s agent.
He said the party became more vigilant and challenged the registration of some unqualified persons.
George Bright Anni Bansah, the NDC Hohoe Constituency Chairman, however, said the discrepancy occurred only once, and did not warrant intimidation of first-time qualified voters by the NPP.
He called on the police to arrest those behind the destruction of the materials, saying their actions were against the law.
Kwabena Karikari, the Hohoe Municipal Electoral Officer, confirmed the destruction of the materials and said none of the parties called on the EC to express any grievances
