A member of the National Peace Council, Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu says the violent incident recorded at Kukuom and elsewhere in the ongoing limited voter registration is a bad signal for the 2024 election and must not be discouraged.
According to him, the disturbance has raised concerns about potential violence during the upcoming December general elections.
Speaking on JoyNews on May 13, he said, “The spilling of blood just for this kind of limited voter registration is something that we must all discourage.”
This comment comes after a recent disturbance during the limited voter registration exercise at Kukuom in the Ahafo Region on Saturday, May 11, left one injured and hospitalised.
According to him, there is no justification for the spilling of blood that occurred during the registration exercise.
“If the law allows us to take hold of those who are violating the law, let’s allow the law to take its own course. But to engage in violence at the national level is something that must not be discouraged. We should not entertain this,” he noted.
“My worry, fear and anxiety has been given credence because even at this stage, this is what we can see. Then I can foresee what will happen during our elections.”
He called on all stakeholders to come on board and nip these incidents in the bud.
“All state institutions that have something to do, the security services, the election monitoring group, the EC, and all state institutions that have something to do with election processes in our country, must begin to put their acts together so that we can have elections come December in a manner that holds our nation together, so that the credibility of our elections can also be established.”
“Let’s monitor the situation from now, apart from what we have seen, whether there could be any other incidents and let’s put together all the updates about the situation of violence that has characterized this. So in the end of this, we will be able to address ourselves once again with the issue of possible violence as the elections approaches,”he said.
The incident at Kukuom led to the arrest of the MP for Asutifi South, Collins Dauda, who was alleged to have been involved in it.
Although police has granted him bail, his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has condemned the arrest calling on the police to fish out the real perpetrators.
According to the party, Mr Dauda was nowhere near the area in question and could not have played any part in the incident. It said the disturbances were instigated by thugs aligned to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).