The observable indicators of election security violence in the upcoming Assin North by – election cannot be underestimated due to the dynamics of its electoral competition and the circumstance that led to the seat being declared vacant as compare to the previous incidents that expedited the past by – elections held in our 4th republic.
In contradistinction to the extinct by – elections where a member of parliament dies leaving the parliamentary seat vacant with no doubt of a vacancy created by manipulation as believed by the largest opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC), a major actor in the upcoming by – election, hence its strong desire to rewin the seat has enkindled the feeling of high stressed, anger, uncertainty, and mistrust towards some activities of the Police Personnel on the ground, a typical case is the health screening organised by the Police Administration as its shared security approach to build a tie relationship with the electorates in the communities to calm down fears and to ensure pre – election and election safety among both electorates and the police.
To an equally degree the determination by the ruling party, New Patriotic Party (NPP) to ensure no existence of a hung parliament and the high desires by both political parties to win this upcoming by – election in order to increase their political party’s popularity ahead of the 2024 general election has also triggered a high election tension atmosphere, couple with historical antecedents and the demographic of the constituency can influence the likelihood of election security violence.
In asmuch as I recommend the Inspector general of police ( IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare for supervising a peaceful Kumawu by – election recently which happened to be the 32nd by – election held in the country and was not characterised with election security violence contrast to Chireponi (2009), Atiwa (2010), Talensi (2015) and Ayawaso West Wuogon (2019), where party vigilante groups caused mayhem in the full glare of the cameras and state security.
Experience from Ayawaso West Wuogon by – election which was more scarier and terrifying has taught us that the causes of electoral violence goes beyond the crushing of party vigilantes but rather infiltration of unprofessional state security personnel to cause mayhem among party loyalists has also become a serious matter of security concern.
It is for this reason that, am calling on the Inspector general of police (IGP) to deploy Police Officers with body worn cameras in all the ninety – nine polling stations in the Assin North constituency to help improve security professionalism, gather evidence of criminal activities by party loyalists and ensure accountability of officers by avoiding false allegations of misconduct against them. This also to some extent will deter both parties from using power base strategy against each other in their hunger for political power.
Again, for the purpose of enhancing the level of security before, during and after the election.
Furthermore, to beef up security, I look up to the Police high command to make available not less than five hundred body cameras out of the three thousand body cameras recieved by the Ghana Police Service as at December 2019.
