The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, says he is at a lost why some Ghanaians are condemning the Minister of Special Development Initiatives and Member of Parliament of Parliament (MP) for Awutu Senya East for firing gun shots at the Step to Christ registration centre in her constituency when she came under mob attack.
To the NPP chief scribe, the action that was taken by the Minister was in self-defense since she could have been maimed by the mob said to be supporters of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In the view of Boadu, once the gun was duly registered, “there was nothing wrong firing those warning shots” to disperse the angry mob that were after her life.
He made these remarks when interacting with Accra-based Okay FM on Tuesday, July 21, 2020, on the gun-shot incident that occurred at the Steps to Christ registration centre on Monday, July 20, 2020. The incident brought the registration of prospective voters to an abrupt end.
Registration of prospective eligible voters was ongoing peacefully at the said registration centre when suddenly some men in pickup stormed the centre and tried to prevent some persons whom they suspected had been bused from Sowutuom and other areas to register in the constituency from registering.
In the process, gun shots were fired while at least three motorbikes were burnt.
Hon. Hawa Koomson interacting with Accra-based Adom FM over the incident admitted to firing the gun shots to disperse a mob attack on her life.
“I can’t sit and watch people who are not from the constituency register and vote at Kasoa so I decided to go to the polling centre to ensure ‘foreigners’ don’t register…I took men to the center, none of my men had a weapon, I fired the warning shot myself” she said.
The Campaign Team of Hon. Hawa Koomson in a statement said “The near clashes between supporters of the two parties come at a time the NDC have made up their mind to go all out to disrupt the registration process by bussing people from Sowutuom and other parts of Accra to Awutu Senya East to register. And that mainly accounted for the clashes yesterday at ‘Steps to Christ polling station. The Member of Parliament went there to acquaint herself with the issue of the registration of missionaries. As Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson entered the polling station with her entourage, they saw some motorists and running around the Member of Parliament’s vehicle, and attacked her lead vehicle by smashing of the taillights and that of the bomber in an attempt to ambush and prevent her from entering the premises. The said vehicle is parked at the Kasoa police station. Furthermore, the unidentified motorists had on face masks, making difficult to see their faces. The wild behavior of the thugs caused the registrants to scatter because the place had become unsafe. Upon seeing the danger posed by these thugs on motorbikes who were attacking her unarmed team close to the polling station, the Member of Parliament quickly gave a warning shot in the air in self-defense to scare off the thugs”.
Four people have since been arrested in connection with the shooting incident by the Kasoa Divisional Police Command. They have been transferred to Cape Coast, the regional capital of for investigations.
