Editor of the Patriot Newspaper, Peter Bamfoe has asserted that the 2020 election may not be as peaceful as expected considering that the flashpoints identified by the Ghana Police Service have increased as compared to the number of flashpoints in 2016.
Speaking on the special ‘Editors’ Take’ segment of the Happy Morning Show, he said: “The number of flashpoints this year are more than the ones we had in 2016. And if you look at the general sense of security you have a certain level of high apprehension. If you look at events that have happened leading to the election, particularly on the part of the security agencies, looking at the flashpoint numbers, it shows that the polls might not be peaceful as we anticipate it to be”.
According to him, even the voters’ exhibition exercise conducted by the Electoral Commission(EC) was also characterized by violence. “Even during the exhibition exercise, if you look at the general sense of insecurity, all of us ought to be concerned”, he added.
The Ghana Police Service has identified 6,1 78 flashpoints across the 16 regions where potential electoral violence could occur before or after the December 7 elections.
The number of flashpoints had increased since the last elections in 2016 when the violence-prone areas were a little over 5,000.
The Ashanti Region tops the latest list with 975 flashpoints followed by the Central Region with 906 flashpoints and Eastern Region with 891 flashpoints.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
