There was no form of military intimidation in Volta region – Koku Anyidoho

Chief Executive Officer of the Atta-Mills Institute, Koku Anyidoho has come out to clear the air on allegations made by some persons and political parties that military men were deployed to the Volta region to intimidate eligible voters in the just ended general elections.

According to him, there was no sort of intimidation at various polling centres he visited with his team in the Volta region.

In an interview with GhanaWeb, Koku Anyidoho who indicated that he travelled to observe the electoral proceedings as well as lookout for other issues said, “I led the team to the Volta region…I had to be there and observe for myself considering all the information that came around pre-election as regards heavy military deployment in the region as some attempts as it were to intimidate voters. It didn’t happen. Wherever we went in the volta region from the southern belt, the middle belt, and the northern belt, there was no form of intimidation at all.”

He also lauded the Electoral Commission for conducting credible, free, fair elections on Monday, December 7, 2020.

Koku Anyidoho told GhanaWeb that his teams have "come out with solid reports that largely, the election was free and fair and for us at Atta-Mills Institute, it’s not premature to say Ayekoo to Mrs. Jean Mensa, the EC Chair and her team at the EC for rolling out a voting process that has sat well with the Republic of Ghana."

Both the Volta House of chiefs and the opposition NDC in the past months called on the government to withdraw the military from the region but their plea was not heard.

According to the vice president of the Volta House of Chiefs, Togbe Patamia Dzekley the security presence in the region may suppress votes on the election day.

The Defence Minister in a response to the afore-mentioned claim said the military men were deployed to secure all borders of the country in the wake of the deadly coronavirus.

He stressed that the military men in the Volta Region were to support the Ghana Immigration Service to enforce the closure of borders directive issued by Akufo-Addo.