REGSEC assures of security ahead of NPP primaries

The Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has given assurance of maximum security in the region as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) prepares to hold its parliamentary primaries on Saturday, June 20.

Twenty-seven (27) constituencies out of forty-four (44) would go to the polls on electoral area basis to choose their respective parliamentary candidates from more than 80 contestants, including six females, who are aspiring to become parliamentarians in the region.

Sixteen (16) aspirants are going unopposed, while elections in the Kwadaso Constituency had been scheduled for Wednesday June 24, this year.

Two constituencies, Asawase and Ejura-Sekyeredumasi, which are considered as “orphans” in the region, had already elected their parliamentary candidates.

Ashanti region, a stronghold of the NPP, is expected to witness one of the most keenly contests in some areas considered to be hotspots in this years’ constituency primaries.

Some of the hotspots which will attract public attention on Saturday are Adansi-Asokwa, Bantama, Manhyia North and Subin constituencies.

The rest are Effiduase-Asokore, Ejisu, Old-Tafo, as well as the Asante-Akim north, central and south constituencies.

“We are warning party supporters to stay off trouble,” Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, Chairman of the Council and also the Regional Minister, cautioned in a media briefing.

He said the use of motor-bikes for any reason would not be tolerated.

He assured that REGSEC would mount high security presence in some designated areas, as well as all the other contesting constituencies to ensure discipline.

Barely twenty-four (24) hours to the elections, there seems to be uneasy calm in some of the constituencies as some delegates alleging that the voters’ album was being fiddle with.

In a related development, the regional party executive has promised to enforce strictly all the COVID-19 preventive protocols at the electoral areas where elections would be held.

Mr. Sam Pyne, Regional Secretay of the NPP in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, said the party’s leadership would ensure the observance of social distancing and mandatory wearing of face masks.

Additionally, all the electoral areas would be provided with hand sanitizers and Veronica buckets for use by the delegates to enhance their safety and protection.