The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa, has disclosed that the deployment of military and other security personnel to border towns in the Volta and Oti regions is for the interest of the nation and nothing more.
According to him, rumours of the deployment exercise being an intimidation tactic is false. “The exercise is not meant to harass citizens but to rather keep them safe.”
The minister explained that the security personnel have been deployed to enforce security at the borders as more and more people are illegally entering the country regardless of the border closure to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to Happy 98.9 FM’s Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, the regional minister explained reasons behind the deployment by saying, “We have many unapproved routes and everybody in Ghana knows our borders are porous. And we need to put in extra measures to ensure our borders remain closed.” Hence, the deployment of extra military and security personnel at the borders.
He sadly declared that border towns and their regional ministers were accused of not enforcing the border closure as people came into the country illegally, “and now that we’re doing so, we’re being criticised for doing our duty.”
The said suspicion arises from the upcoming voters’ register compilation which starts on Tuesday.
With the Volta and Oti regions fetching the opposition NDC a chunk of their votes, the party is crying foul over voter suppression.
The NDC says the government is using the military to intimidate residents in these towns from registering to vote in December.
By: Joel Sanco