Tensions erupt at Koforidua Police Headquarters during Special Voting exercise

Tensions flared at the Koforidua Police Headquarters during the Special Voting exercise in the Eastern Region.

The New Juaben South Organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Tijani Mikano, clashed with security personnel after resisting instructions to leave the voting perimeter.

He argued that, he would only comply if the New Patriotic Party (NPP) official, allegedly campaigning in the restricted area, was also removed.

“The EC has given us a parameter in which we should distance ourselves from the voters, but the NPP is campaigning in the queue so I also decided to campaign with my team but the EC says it is not allowed. If it is not allowed, they should drive the others back so the voters can cast their vote…,” he explained the cause of the incident.

The situation escalated into a heated standoff, drawing the attention of voters, security personnel, and Electoral Commission (EC) officials.

Speaking with the Presiding Officer, Darlington Annan, he said the NDC executive was misled to believe the NPP agents exceeded the perimeter.

He clarified that the NPP representative had been instructed to leave the queue for causing a disturbance, but the parties’ misunderstanding fueled the altercation.

“He [the NPP representative] was moving around and was asked to move from the queue because he was causing a nuisance to the voters so he was advised to leave the queue, but as he was going, the opponent thought he was interfering so they wanted to know what was happening and in the process, it escalated to a debate between them,” he narrated.

JoyNews’ Eastern Region correspondent, Kofi Siaw says it took the intervention of the Electoral Commission officials and police officers to settle the misunderstanding.

He said they spoke to both parties and they vacated the premises.

He noted that calm has since returned to the place and voting is ongoing.

Meanwhile, voting in the Western Region has been smooth and peaceful with little to no reported incidents.

Although the special voting took place in 14 regions on Monday, Eastern and Western regions could not vote after the Electoral Commission recalled and ordered and reprinting of their ballot papers following a mishap that was detected with some ballot papers.