Are we at war? - Nunoo-Mensah questions why people take guns to registration centres

Dissatisfied about the several patches of violence at some voters registration centres across the country, former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Brigadier General (Rtd) Joseph Nunoo-Mensah has questioned the motive behind brandishing weapons at polling centres by some party faithful.

Since the commencement of the Electoral Commission’s voters registration exercise on June 30, 2020, several reports of violence have made news headlines.

Most paramount of such cases involved the Minister of Special Development Initiatives, Mavis Hawa Koomson.

Some of these cases were captured under the headlines, “Four held over shooting at registration centre”, “I fired the gunshots myself - Hawa Koomson admits shooting at registration centre”, “NPP supporter allegedly pulls gun at registration centre in Asawase”, and several others.

Reacting to this in an interaction on Point Blank, Brigadier General (Rtd) Nunoo-Mensah laid the blame at the doorstep of the two main political parties, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

In an attempt to find answers to why some people carry weapons to registration centres when it’s only a registration exercise, he said Ghanaians continue to witness these cases because the two main parties have normalized it.

“Why do you have to go to the registration centre with a gun? Are we at war? It is just because there is a prize for winning power so they can drive big Land Cruisers and live big?” he queried.

Adding that “when somebody does something wrong, we should deal with that person. If my son does something wrong, I won’t deal with him because he is my son, I will cover him, No, I won’t do that.”

According to Brigadier General (Rtd) Nunoo-Mensah, the country stands a risk of being plunged into destruction if these issues are not addressed.

“This is a problem both NDC and NPP have brought into this country and if they don’t change, they might destroy this country. When your own does something wrong, you cover it and go after the other one. It is not right. Wrong is wrong and no one is above the law. When someone offends the law, let the person face the law,” he said.

The country’s general election to elect new leaders is scheduled to take place on December 7, 2020.