One person has sustained injuries while three others have been arrested after chaos erupted during the New Patriotic Party’s Constituency Executive Elections in the Bantama Constituency of the Ashanti Region.
The violence broke out after some party members allegedly led a group of thugs to disrupt the ongoing election, claiming the exercise was not supposed to take place because an injunction had been secured by some aggrieved party members.
According to witnesses, the group stormed the venue, destroyed election materials and insisted that the officials conducting the exercise were not officers of the Electoral Commission and therefore had no mandate to hold the election.
“Machomen invaded the venue and started smashing EC items; one person is injured. The police acted unprofessionally when they arrived at the scene. The election is on hold now,” one of the witnesses said.
The Bantama Constituency had been in the news ahead of the elections following accusations and counter-accusations between the current Constituency Chairman and the First Vice Chairman over the alleged removal of the names of some delegates from the electoral album.
The plaintiffs who secured the injunction are Paul Asare, Marcus James Kwadwo Osei and Enoch Ofori Amanfo, all members of the New Patriotic Party in the Bantama Constituency.
The injunction, which was served on the party’s headquarters, the supervisor of the constituency elections and the NPP Bantama Constituency, sought to restrain them from conducting the Constituency Executive Elections.
However, some individuals allegedly defied the court order and went ahead with the elections.
The ensuing violence brought the electoral process to a halt, leaving delegates stranded at the Kumasi Cultural Centre, the venue for the election.
Police have since been deployed to the scene to restore order.
