THE ASAWASE Constituency Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Faizer Dauda, has been remanded in custody after being charged with causing unlawful harm and violent disorder at a voter registration centre in Asokore-Mampong.
Zeinab Jibril, Sadat Abubakar and Rashid Mohammed were injured when members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition NDC slugged it out in a violent clash that erupted during the limited registration exercise on Friday, June 29, 2019.
Faizer Dauda appeared at a circuit court in Kumasi charged with offences relating to the incident which halted the process of the registration exercise conducted by the Electoral Commission.
He was remanded in custody to re-appear at the same court on July 15.
He is believed to have masterminded the attacks on the three victims and the confusion that broke out on that day.
The violent disorder came about as a result of a misunderstanding over alleged registration of minors and counter allegations by supporters of the two main political parties, leading to a fight.
A leading member of the NDC reportedly attacked Zeinab Jibril.
Zeinab was said to have been given slaps, causing her to fall off after she was said to have pulled off the veil of a lady brought to the registration centre to register ostensibly to know her identity.
It became free-for-all fight when some members of the NPP went to Zeinab’s rescue, and this angered the NDC supporters who started throwing punches and stones.
“The NPP guys retaliated with stones pelting and charged against their opponents,” one witness told the DGN Online.
In the course of the melee, windscreens of vehicles were smashed, while three people sustained injuries on the cheek, ear and hands. All the injured were treated and discharged by the Manhyia Government Hospital on Friday shortly after the incident.
The constituency has a history of violence between the two major political parties competing for the parliamentary seat and votes.
A similar incident took place at the same venue a day before the latest incident over the registration of some senior high school students for which the two parties were made to sign undertaking to allow peace to prevail.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi