2020 Elections: “NPP Wants to Disenfranchise People Based on their Tribe” – Sammy Gyamfi

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have again expressed their displeasure at the supposed military interference in the ongoing mass voters’ registration exercise.

According to the party’s Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is keen on disenfranchising some Ghanaians based on their tribe.

Mr Gyamfi who was addressing an audience at the weekly NDC press conference, said the NPP government is hell-bent on marginalizing certain tribal groups, since the party itself was formed on tribal lines.

"The harassment of security officials and NPP thugs at some registration centres has led to several people not being able to register. We have received reports of several brutalities of people of the Ewe tribe in Banda. This has been the plan of the tribalistic Akufo-Addo government to physically and violently prevent these Ghanaians from taking part in the voters exercise on grounds that they are Togolese. It is clear the NPP wants to disenfranchise people based on their tribe.".

Sammy Gyamfi went on to demand that President Akufo-Addo brings an end to the alleged harassment of eligible voters, mostly in areas perceived as the opposition party's terrain.

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Since the commencement of the voters’ registration exercise, the NDC have expressed displeasure at alleged attempts by the ruling NPP government to prevent some tribal groups within the country to partake in the activity.

The NDC has continuously bemoan the presence of the military along the border towns of the country, especially in the Volta and Oti Region.

According to the opposition, the military deployment by government to these areas, is to harass and scare the residents from participating in the voters’ registration exercise, in a grand scheme of unfairly winning the upcoming general elections.

The General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah was in this regard  recently seen in a video on social media ‘clashing’ with military over their interference in the registration process.

The soldiers, according to him, were intimidating residents participating in the voter registration exercise

This led to the Ghana Armed Forces releasing a statement to clarify the issue and said they were called to the Bono Region by the REGSEC