A group of machomen stormed
the collation centre of the Ablekuma
North constituency of Accra and set the ballot papers
ablaze.
Meanwhile, both NPP and NDC parliamentary candidates - Joe
Appiah and Ras Mubarak - have been accusing each other of hiring
the services of these machomen, Joy
News' Etonarm Sey reported on
Saturday.
However, deputy returning officer for the constituency, Owusu
Nkansah suspected that the NDC is behind the thugs'
action.
Mr Nkansah told Joy News they were at the Kwashieman
collation centre tabulating the
result when it was detected that the results from a particular
polling station was yet to arrive. They were however able to trace
the presiding officer for that polling station who came to the
centre with the party agents of both
parties: the agents certified the result in the presence of all,
including the candidates.
He recounted that in the course of collating the results,
some machomen “trooped” into the
place and threatened that the results would not be accepted,
insisting that the election should be rerun.
“Before I could say Jak”, he
recalled, the hoodlums holding petrol poured them on the ballot
papers and set them on fire.
Mr Nkansah said police were called in to intervene, and some
of the thugs were arrested and sent to the Odokor Police
Station.
The rest of the materials have been escorted to the police
station where Mr Nkansah insists collation would be done and
results declared without the burnt papers.
Superintendent Baffour Appenteng, the officer in charge of
investigations at the Great Accra Regional Elections Task-Force,
confirmed the incident to Joy News.
He said preliminary investigations into the incident led to
the retrieval of the can from which
petrol was poured over electoral materials at the collation
centre and set ablaze.
Supt. Appenteng
said three persons arrested in connection with the arson were
currently in police custody and would be put before court after investigations were
complete.
Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters of both candidates thronged
the police station creating confusion. A combine team of police and
military personnel are finding it difficult to calm tension
down.
Etorney
Sey observed that the security would
need reinforcement to bring the situation under control.
