Some politicians in Ghana have exchanged blows at a meeting to iron out differences over the controversial plan to compile a new voters’ register.
The meeting was convened by the Eminent Advisory Council of the country’s Electoral Commission following mass protests by disgruntled political parties opposing the decision to compile the register for the 2020 elections.
Tempers flared up when a presidential hopeful and leader of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) Kofi Akpaloo attempted to film proceedings to capture Founder of the All Peoples Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga whom he accused of misbehaving.
This did not go down well with an Assistant of Mr Ayariga who traded blows with the LPG Founder.
Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Peter Boamah Otokunor is accusing blaming the EC for allowing taking presentations from some politicians and not allowing CSOs to present their positions on the matter at the five hour meeting. Mr Otokunor said the intervention of some members of the Eminent Advisory Committee prevented bloodshed.
“There were exchange of blows; the leader of the LPG had to carry a chair [and] by the timely intervention of Archbishop Palmer-Buckle, there would have been bloodshed,” he said.
But Mr Akpaloo has defended his actions, insisting that he had to defend himself when he came under attack.
The police had to call for more personnel in order to restore calm from the chaos that was generated by the two politicians who are on both ends of the voters’ register debate.
The Inter-Party Resistance Against New Voter Register (IPRAN), has threatened to resume the mass protests over the EC’s refusal to halt the planned compilation of the voters register.
They have vowed to take the protests to the offices of the EC in the country’s capital Accra to press home their demands.
Ghana will hold a general election in December this year and the stakes appear to be very high.
Source: Africafeeds.com
