Akufo-Addo Government has no Agenda against the Volta Region – Defence Minister
He said the Akufo-Addo government is not against any tribe in Ghana
Jonas Danquah 
Ghana’s Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul has debunked allegations from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that government had deployed security personnel to the Volta Region to harass residents ahead of the voters’ registration exercise.
He described these assertions by the opposition as ‘pure mischief’ and should be ignored by the citizenry.
The Minister, at a press conference on Monday, clarified that, the deployment of these soldiers at the border areas of the country, is part a nationwide exercise to stop illegal entry into the country following the border closure directive.
He said as done in the Volta region, similar deployments have been made at the Savannah, Northern and Upper East regions as well.
“I want the people of the Volta Region to know that the information the NDC, Minority and former president John Mahama are feeding them is pure propaganda. It should be ignored. It is pure mischief. We have deployed [soldiers] across the entire country and the purpose is to aid and support the Ghana Immigration Service to stop people from crossing [in] because we have too many unapproved routes and the COVID-19 numbers are getting higher and higher and we will not sit aloof and allow our people to die because people are crossing into our country,” the Minister said.
Contrary to suggestions that the government is targeting Ewes – the political ‘bank’ of the NDC – for intimidation in the run-up to the 2020 elections, the Minister said there is no agenda against any tribe in the country.
He said the ultimate purpose of the deployment is to check crime and illegal immigration, which puts the country at a health risks amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For the people of Ghana, they are concerned about their health. It is my duty to make sure that the people of Ghana are safe and at this particular time we are all in danger so you will have seen the deployment we have done across the whole country and for anybody to suggest that we just deployed only to Aflao or the Volta Region is misplaced, it is misinformation and the person is only seeking mischief,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Volta caucus on the Minority side in Parliament has given the Akufo-Addo government up to Tuesday, June 30, to withdraw the military deployment from Ghana’s borders in the Volta Region.
MP for Ho West and Chairman of the Volta Caucus, Emmanuel Bedzrah, speaking at the party's press briefing at Aflao in the Volta Region said they will retaliate if these security personnel are not withdrawn.
In response, Mr Dominic Nitiwul said, the NDC “should bow their heads in shame” for making such request.
“I believe that if they are watching this press conference, they will revise their notes and they should be bowing their heads in shame because they lied to the people of Ghana. As we have all been told now, the numbers in the Volta Region are some of the lowest of the deployment. So when you are giving the ultimatum, are you giving the ultimatum for those in the North-East Region to also be withdrawn, those in the Northern Region to also be withdrawn?” he noted.
