The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has said that while it is unfortunate that violence erupted at the Odododiodio constituency yesterday, it is a good thing that this violence surfaced prior to the December 2020 elections.
Explaining why this is so, Coordinator of CODEO, Albert Arhin stated on the Happy Morning show with Samuel Eshun: “The violence at the Odododiodio constituency has gotten everyone’s attention. It is good that we have these hotspots coming out. It will help so that planning for safety, security and other related matters will help to make peace work. Now that there are hotspots, we are going to concentrate. So instead of maybe two security personnel being at a place, it will be three or four now. So it is good and all attention will be focused there. The ultimate aim is to prevent any disaster or security breach.
We thank God these things are coming up now before the actual elections so that we can work on the security”.
According to him, even though the identification of flashpoints ahead of the elections is a good initiative, the most important thing to do is for the “security apparatus to focus their attention on those areas”.
Meanwhile, CODEO has called on political leaders in the constituency to speak to their followers on the need to instil peace. “The two political leaders must meet and talk to their members. They need to tell them that violence is not going to take anybody anywhere. In the end, they are just going to hurt themselves. If peace is not maintained, the election will be disrupted”, Albert added.
The Ghana Police Service has released the list of election violence-prone areas in all sixteen regions of the country. The Odododiodio constituency has been identified as one of the flashpoints going into the 2020 elections.
Just some days after this report was released, a peace walk by supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) turned violent at Jamestown in the Odododiodio constituency.
In a number of video clips widely shared on social media platforms, it showed supporters of the two main parties throwing bottles as well as hauling stones and insults at each other.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
