Council of State Polls: Team Nana Nkansah Boadu demands change of venue, military deployment

The campaign team of the Chief of Agric Nsima, Nana Nkansah Boadu Ayeboafo, is demanding the Electoral Commission (EC) to change the venue for the Monday’s re-run of the Council of State election from the Regional Coordinating Council ( RCC) to a neutral venue to ensure free, fair and transparent elections devoid of violence.

The group is also calling for the deployment of the millitary to boost security at the election premises to ward off any thugs or machomen who may be harbouring evil plans of disrupting the process on Monday, February 17, 2025.

It will recalled that the election of the region’s representative to the Council of State turned chaotic on Tuesday, February 11, when some machomen out of nowhere came to the election grounds and disrupted the process, destroying ballot papers and boxes.

Five journalists who were filming the incident for their reports were beaten pitilessly.

The victims include Gideon Nana Peprah, GhanaWeb; Akwasi Oppong, Angel FM; Kofi Adade, Oyerepa Radio/TV, Henry Kotei Henry, Oseikrom Dawuro newspaper, and Charles Awuah Mensah alias Papa That, Lawson FM/TV.

They were beaten in the presence of the police while the ballot papers were being sorted and counted by the electoral officers.

The campaign team manager, Nana Obuor Sika, in a press conference on Friday, February 14, claimed that the police deployed to the initial election failed to control the confusion that erupted at the RCC, hence the need for the deployment security to ensure violence free process next Monday.

“It is just so shameful having over 100 policemen and women who could not superintent over just 86 votes to be counted and results declared. What then is the assurance that come Monday, if this same people (police) is going to superintent the elections, we can have a smooth running of the elections. So I think this time the military and all other forces must join the millitary so that we can have a very clean, fair and violent free elections this time around,” he explained.

Nana Obuor Sika continued, “our message is very clear we are for the re-run on Monday but we are not going to allow the elections to be held at RCC and we are calling on the millitary and other security agencies to join forces with the police on Monday so that we can have a very violent free elections this time around.”

He explained that the RCC is not neutral enough to serve as venue for the election, considering it being the official seat of the Regional Minister, ,Dr. Frank Amoakohene, the election can easily be manipulated in favour of NDC’s candidate, Yaw Owusu Obimpeh.

Nana Obour Sikka also indicated that, they will resist any attempt by the Electoral Commission to change the voter register for the elections to favour one candidate.

“We are hearing from the various MMDAs in the Ashanti Region is that, as we speak there are swearing-in of new members who are going to form the government appointees so that they can use those swearing-in members to temper with the register.

What we want to ask is that what does the law say if there is going to be a re-run of elections does the law say the very register or the very album which was used for the elections could be tempered with the new register. We are now calling on the electoral commission to so the needful. There is no law that states that album can be tempered.

The elections was held on Tuesday amd per what happened there is the need for rerun as they have advised accordingly. We have the total list of the 86 Assembly members who voted on that day and that is what we all have to go by,” he indicated.