ACP Awuni Angwubutoge, Director of Traffic at the Police Headquarters, has disputed the account of the incident that ensued recently when members of the ‘Let My Vote Count’ alliance organized a public forum in Abetifi in the Eastern Region.
As the most senior officer at the time the incident took place, he said, ‘I went with the other police personnel on traffic management duty during the Kwahu Easter to Abetifi when reports about a misunderstanding got to us. There were only 17 police officers at the place and not the bloated figure claimed by the alliance.’
Having agreed with the Police as to the date, he said the organizers changed the details of the forum and proceeded to hold it, adding ‘the correspondence they sent to the Police was unsigned.’
Under the circumstance, he said, the Police could not have just closed their eyes and allowed the forum to go on without raising objections as they did.
The Eastern Regional Police Commander, he said, had complained that in view of the clash between the forum and the Easter festivities, the law enforcement agents could not manage the two simultaneously and so asked that a new date be picked, suggestion which was kicked against by the organisers.
Some members of the alliance were rather aggressive and even threatened to go ahead with the forum regardless of the concerns of the Police.
Eventually though, ACP Awuni said ‘we agreed that they go ahead with their programme after discussing with the MP for the area and a section of the leadership of the organizers on condition that it does not go beyond 6pm which is a dictate of the public order act anyway.’
He told DAILY GUIDE that the picture painted by some members of the alliance was totally untrue.
By A.R. Gomda