Officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) who are registering people at the Step to Christ Registration Centre in the Awutu Senya East constituency have had to run for their lives after gun-wielding men stormed the centre of the exercise.
Eye witnesses say the men, numbering at least 15, arrived at the registration centre around 8:00 am and tried to sack some prospective registrants.
This resulted in a scuffle that saw the firing of guns and the burning of three motor bikes.
“We were registering for the ID card when suddenly a car filled with bodyguards of Hawa Koomson arrived. When they got here and instructed all those who weren’t part of the exercise to move away.
“There was a Royal bike parked here which they attempted to move out of their way but the owner insisted on doing so himself only for them to start attacking every bike on sight, burning some of them as they beat the owners of the bikes,” a resident narrated.
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He told JoyNews that residents have been left in shock due to the incident.
“We actually don’t know what the problem was because here has been very peaceful for the past one week.”
Another eyewitness who spoke to JoyNews’ Joseph Ackah-Blay accused the current Member of Parliament for the Constituency, Hawa Koomson, of being responsible for the attack.
He alleged that the development was an attempt to discourage eligible voters from participating in the ongoing registration exercise.
“If this continues here, many people will not register for the card.
“Because of what happened, everyone left the queue and the EC staff also packed their stuff and left.
“The MP for this constituency was standing here, telling people not to run away that nothing is going to happen whiles her people are holding guns and just shooting,” he alleged.
Meanwhile parliamentary aspirants for the NPP, Hawa Koomson, and the opposition NDC, Phyllis Naa Koryoo are at the District Police Headquarters in a meeting with the Kasoa Divisional Command over the incident.
Meanwhile, the EC officials are nowhere to be found.
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