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The National Democratic Congress Flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, has condemned what he calls the “discriminatory” use of military personnel by President Akufo-Addo to disenfranchise Ewes and other non-Akans.
His statement comes on the back of a report in which some military personnel are accused of preventing Ewes in Banda from taking part in the ongoing voter registration exercise.
In a post on his Facebook page, Mr Mahama described the actions of the government as dangerous.
“The road President Akufo-Addo is taking our beautiful country through, using the military and party thugs to stop people from exercising their right to register and vote in the upcoming December elections, is dangerous and unacceptable.”
“There have been many reports and video evidence, like the one in this post, of the President’s deployment and discriminatory use of soldiers to target our brothers and sisters in the Volta Region and wherever there are settlements of Voltarians and non-Akans,” he added.
The former president also indicated that such acts will not be permitted should he be voted into power.
“Executive power must not be used to foment ethnic discrimination and abuse as is happening under Nana Akufo-Addo. These calculated acts of “dehumanisation, disenfranchising Ghanaians and stripping them of their citizenship” must end. They will surely never happen under a new NDC administration because we will foster a spirit of peace and unity in our nation.”
“As Commander-in-Chief, I will not use our military in such a partisan manner to terrorise our own people, and in matters that are purely civil and dwell in the very heart of our constitutional democracy.”
Nana Addo justifies military deployment
President Akufo-Addo, in an address to the nation on Monday, June 29, 2020, justified the deployment of military personnel along the country’s borders saying it was in the best interest of the country.
He said the deployment was to save the country against the intrusion of foreign nationals who have the potential of jeopardising Ghana’s democracy and health efforts in these crucial moments.
“The longstanding deployment of security personnel, especially the military, along our borders is another dimension of this process of guaranteeing the peace of the nation.”
Ghana’s Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul also assured Ghanaians of the Ghana Armed Forces’ unalloyed allegiance and service.
According to him, the military will not compromise the safety of Ghanaians for the interest of any individual, political party or tribe.
