The National Peace Council (NPC), in conjunction with the West African Network for Peacebuilding, has called for an increased security personnel in all potential flashpoints, especially in the Ewutu Senya East Constituency.
There has been an alleged gun shot at Kasoa in the Awutu Senya East where two persons – a journalist and a polling agent – were reported injured.
The Reverend Dr Ernest Adu Gyamfi, the Chairman of the NPC, made the call on Monday at a press conference in Accra to update the media on issues arising from the observation of the polls.
He encouraged the EC officials and the security agents at the polling station to ensure compliance to laid down procedures to fast track the counting process.
He said generally the voting process had advanced well and in accordance with the electoral laws.
Dr Gyamfi said it had been recorded at two different polling stations that there were improper detachments of some presidential ballot paper, which led to the cutting off of one of the candidate’s name and party logo.
He said the polling stations involved were Alhaji Salam Grinding Mill in the Bawku Central in the Upper East Region and the DA JHS Twimine in the Awutu Senya West in the Central Region.
Dr Gyamfi said there were cases of verification machine failure in some polling stations, which had resulted in delays in voting, generated long queues.
On security, he said one person had been arrested in Odododiodio Constituency for attempting to vote twice.
There were chaos at the City Engineers polling station in the Odododiodio Constituency after some voters budged into the centre despite the presence of the security officers.
On steps taken to forestall calm at Kasoa where the gunshots occurred, Dr Gyamfi said the eminent persons spoke to the parliamentary candidates to remain calm as it followed up on the matter.
He said the Police Commander of the area had been spoken to and he gave assurance to search for the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
At Odododiodio constituency, he said the eminent persons had spoken to the Police Commander and assured of Police presence in the area.
The NPC and West African Network for Peacebuilding and their partners had deployed 350 election observers across the country.
The role of the observers fall under the Electoral violence Monitoring, Analysis and Mitigation project funded by the European Union.
It established the Election Situation Room to coordinate the deployment and collect information on the start of the vote for dissemination to the public.
GNA
