Members of the Volta Region caucus in Parliament are expected in Ketu South as part of an NDC delegation to the Constituency Monday.
This is in solidarity with residents following an increased security presence in the area which critics say is an intimidation tactic. Some residents who have spoken to The BBC Ghana allege harassment and intimidation from the troops.
According to the National Democratic Congress, the troops have been sent there to intimidate residents into abstaining from the upcoming voter registration exercise which begins Tuesday. Governing New Patriotic Party MP K.T. Hammond lends credence to this.
According to the lawmaker from Adansi Asokwa, the troops are to ensure foreigners to not get to register to vote in Ghana’s elections.
However, Volta Regional Minister Archibald Letsa and the Interior Minister Ambrose Dery dispute this.
The two Ministers say the troops are merely there to enforce the border closure as part of measures to control the importation of Covid-19 into the country.
But the NDC, whose stronghold is the Volta region is not convinced.
The opposition party insists the government is using state force to intimidate voters in areas they see as threats to their political fortunes.
“This represents another unprecedented low in the shameless abuse of state power to attack the very citizens whose safety and security the Akufo-Addo government should be protecting,” John Mahama, former president and NDC presidential nominee wrote in a statement.
Outspoken MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, writing on the issue said: “We stand in solidarity with the oppressed and we stand in readiness to confront and defeat bigotry.”
Source: TheBBCghana.Com
