A scene from the chaotic election
The election of the Ashanti Region’s representative to the Council of State turned chaotic when thugs disrupted the election process, destroying ballot papers and boxes.
The election, which began peacefully, was marred by the thugs when they realised that the sorted ballot papers for the Chief of Agric Nsima, Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo was more than that of his main contender, Yaw Owusu Obimpeh, a former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The thugs scattered the ballot papers and destroyed the ballot boxes after receiving a signal from an unnamed NDC executive.
Attack On Journalists
The thugs then proceeded to attack the journalists who were filming the incident for their reports.
The victims are Gideon Nana Peprah, GhanaWeb; Akwasi Oppong, Angel FM; Kofi Adade, Oyerepa Radio/TV; Atta K. Henry, Oseikrom Dawuro newspaper; and Charles Awuah Mensah, alias Papa That, Lawson FM/TV.
Gideon Nana Peprah with
a bloody mouth
The journalists were attacked in the presence of the police while the ballot papers were being sorted and counted by electoral officers.
Akwasi Oppong, who suffered severe injuries from the attack, was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
Kofi Adade was heckled by the thugs and subjected to severe beatings, while others stepped on him.
Gideon Peprah was slapped from behind, his phone and press identity card confiscated, and had the images and videos he had captured for his report erased.
After being challenged by the thugs, Charles Awuah Mensah had his cell phone seized and the images and videos he had from the scene also erased.
Reliable sources from the scene indicate that the thugs were transported from Obuasi.
“As part of our jobs as journalists, it is our responsibility to capture what is going on for Ghanaians to see. Before entering the premises of the election, the police conducted a thorough search on me to find out if I qualify to enter. We got in and started capturing what was going on. It got to a point where the Electoral Commission was doing sorting and counting, and during that moment, all the media guys around were capturing. From nowhere, we saw some heavily built thugs entering the election venue and started causing chaos,” Gideon Nana Peprah of GhanaWeb shared his ordeal with the DAILY GUIDE.
“They scattered everything, and at some point, the ballot papers got destroyed, scattering the ballot boxes in the process. I was about to leave the scene when three heavily built guys surrounded me and confiscated my phone, while others beat me pitilessly.
“They asked me to delete what I had captured, and before I could say a word, one of them from nowhere slapped me from behind. Another one used an object to hit my mouth, and that is why you see blood oozing from my mouth like this,” he further narrated.
Meanwhile, Gideon disclosed that he was going to make a formal complaint to the police before heading to the hospital.
Contest
Twelve candidates contested for the position to represent the region at the Council of State.
They are Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo, Rose Hamilton, Frederick Adjei, Nana Yaw Akuoko, Alexander Nti, and Nana Gyedu Kumanin IV.
Others include Nana Kusi Ampofo II, Angel Yirenkyi, Nana Foriwaa Adwoa, Daniel Anarfi Yamoah, Agyei Bismark and Yaw Owusu Obimpeh.
Police Chase Thugs
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service is on a manhunt for the thugs who invaded the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and disrupted the Council of State elections.
The police are reviewing all available footage to identify and arrest the perpetrators, and bring them to justice.
FROM David Afum, Kumasi