Former President Jerry Rawlings has backed cries of concern following the deployment of military and other security personnel to border towns in the Volta and Oti regions.
In a statement, Mr. Rawlings said the move by government is “generating animosity especially amongst innocent citizens whose basic way of life is being disrupted.”
“The deployment along the borders at peacetime especially at this particular point in time has created so much suspicion and will call for a lot of intelligent flexibility and diligence,” he added.
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The said suspicions arise from the upcoming voters’ register compilation which starts on Tuesday.
With the Volta and Oti regions fetching the opposition NDC a chunk of their votes, the party is crying foul over voter suppression.
The NDC says the government is using the military to intimidate residents in these towns from registering to vote in December.
Governing New Patriotic Party MP K.T. Hammond lends credence to this.
According to the lawmaker from Adansi Asokwa, the troops are to ensure foreigners to not get to register to vote in Ghana’s elections.
However, Volta Regional Minister Archibald Letsa and the Interior Minister Ambrose Dery dispute this.
The two Ministers say the troops are merely there to enforce the border closure as part of measures to control the importation of Covid-19 into the country.
But Rawlings says “the Covid-19 restrictions have created enough difficulties for most of our citizens.
“Let us not make it worse with overbearing and intimidating behaviour towards our border dwellers whose livelihood solely depend on activities along the border.”
“Ahead of the voter registration exercise and the December elections, it is important that we demonstrate a sense of fairness and justice to all individuals and groups of people whilst maintaining the integrity and the sanctity of the process,” he added.