By Godfred A. Polkuu
Namonsa (U/E), Dec. 07, GNA – Mr James Agalga, the Parliamentary Candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the Builsa North Constituency in the Upper East Region has cautioned vigilantes to stay off the elections.
“We don’t expect vigilantes to play a role in this election like we saw in the Ayawaso West Wagon bye-election. Vigilantes, criminals masquerading as State security agents should never ever attempt to cause mayhem at the various polling stations,” he cautioned.
Mr Agalga, the incumbent Member of Parliament for the area, who is contesting the seat for the fourth time, gave the caution after he had cast his ballot at the Namonsa Primary School polling station which had a voter population of 614.
Mr Agalga said the involvement of any vigilante would mar the security of the country, “So they should take note and act accordingly. They should allow the State security to do their work professionally.”
The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Defense and Interior Committee added that “We have called on all security personnel to act in a very professional manner.
“We will not allow even the sanctioned State security personnel to act in a manner that is unfair and disadvantageous to any political party or independent candidate,” he said.
Mr Agalga recalled that at a meeting with the Regional Elections Security Task Force, it was agreed that officials of the Ghana Armed Forces would not be deployed to polling stations except for Bawku.
“Bawku is a flash point, so we all agreed that the Military will be deployed evenly at polling stations for maximum protection, to embolden the electorates to feel safe enough to come out and vote,” he said.
He said for the rest of the Constituencies, “The Military were supposed to be at locations that may not be too visible and would only come in when things get out of control and the Police call them in.
“That was the deployment plan we had, and we are hoping that they follow it through,” Parliament’s Ranking Member on Defense and Interior Committee added.
He acknowledged that Ghana was a peaceful country and admonished the citizenry to maintain the peace and security in the country devoid of any election violence.
GNA