Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has urged the government to exclude the military from supervising the upcoming election.
According to him, the service should be invited to assist the police in the process only when very necessary.
“We don’t want to see the military during elections. When there is the need to call them, they will be called. But they should not be at polling or voting centres,” he said.
The Speaker said this on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, when the House reconvened after a break.
In his opening address to the House, Mr. Bagbin expressed concern over the pockets of violence experienced in the just-ended voter registration exercise.
“The signs and signals of happening in the country are not that of assurance and hope. I shudder when I am told that [people going to write their names carry knives, guns, just to go and write names. What about when we are going to vote? And at the end of it all the results are announced and somebody else has carried the day and not the other. I shudder to picture what can happen.”
He called for more preparation from all stakeholders to ensure a free and fair process.
Emphasising the potential of youth unemployment to affect a country’s security, he advised that
“We must act together and now to prevent a journey to calamity or a journey of no return,” he added.