The NPP
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has expressed concern about the alleged movement of some arms and ammunition to certain parts of the country by the military prior to today’s elections.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Chairman of the party’s campaign team, Peter Mac Manu said, “The NPP is extremely concerned about numerous reports regarding the movement of G3 rifles from armories in the various military units in Tamale, Kumasi, Tema and Accra.”
According to him, the G3 [a weapon which has been decommissioned for military use] rifles and ammunition from these armories were loaded onto police vehicles, beginning Monday evening, and were being conveyed to areas all over the country.
He commented: “These weapons may be distributed to new police recruits who have received less than two months of training,” even though the police are not authorized to carry weapons while stationed at polling stations during voting.
According to Mr Peter Mac Manu, decommissioned rifles have been given out to cadres who have passed out as police men to intimidate voters at the various polling stations.
He claimed over 250 of such rifles had been deployed to Tamale where two people were reported dead in clashes between NPP and NDC supporters in Chereponi.
He feared that some of these rifles might end up in the wrong hands.
The NPP campaign chairman wondered what the decommissioned rifles would be doing at the polling stations except to harass and intimidate voters at the various centres.
The NPP has demanded an immediate explanation by the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other relevant government officials.
“A large movement of weapons to untrained new police recruits is a disturbing development just 12 hours before election day.”
Mr Mac Manu also urged the media, elections observer missions, the international community and Ghanaian citizens to demand transparency and work to prevent any potential for intimidation or violence by state security services that would undermine the credibility and results of today’s polls.
“We would like to reassure all NPP supporters that this matter will be dealt with quickly.”
Considering the fact that the elections would determine the future of the country, Mr Manu charged, “We must not be deterred or intimidated.”
Instead he said, “We fully expect Ghana’s security services to exercise their duties honourably and without favour.”
He urged Ghanaians to exercise their right to vote for change tomorrow.
600,000 Fake Voter Cards
The NPP campaign chairman also revealed that the party had picked up information that the NDC, in collusion with the Electoral Commission, had printed 600,000 voter IDs which had been distributed to NDC supporters across the country.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu