Security
has been beefed up in Akuse as residents of Manya Krobo have vowed to prevent
the elections from taking place in six disputed electoral areas.
In
anticipation of violence, the police have deployed armoured vehicles in the
area to forestall any tragedy.
The
root of the crisis is linked to new district demarcations which placed the six
electoral areas in question under the Dangme West District, instead of the
Lower Manya Krobo District where they have always belonged.
Even
though the offices of the Electoral Comission (EC) in the Lower Manya Krobo
District remains locked, a dependable source has indicated that preparations
are far advanced for the conduct of the elections in the six disputed electoral
areas at Akuse today, amidst growing tension.
Meanwhile
the Supreme Court has granted an injunction to restrain the EC from conducting
the elections in the district following the filing of an order of interim
injunction to that effect jointly by Mr Charles Mate-Korle and Nene Kwesitsu
Azago, representing the Manya Krobo Traditional Council, against the EC and the
Attorney General
The
plaintitfs have also filed a writ in the same court challenging the legality of
L.I. 1983 on which the EC is relying to conduct the elections at Akuse.
Officially,
parts of the Lower Manya Krobo District, namely, the Zongo New Town, Akutue,
Osukutu, Bungalow, Amedeka and Salon Electoral areas have recently been
realigned to the Dangme West District in the Greater Accra Region by a
parliamentary sub-Legislation Committee, acting on the Local Government
(Creation of New District Electoral Areas and Designation of Units) Instrument,
2010 (L.I. 1983).
In
November 2010, following the release of the registration documents by EC
officials in the Manya Krobo District, irate youth in the district forcibly
locked the offices of the EC, located at Agormanya, leading to the inability of
officials of the commission to process the nomination of the rest of the candidates
for the elections.
Until
Monday, when an official statement was released from the traditional council to
restrain the people from any violent act, the youth had been gearing up for a
showdown in Akuse to disrupt the elections.
The
statement, which was issued after an extraordinary emergency meeting at the
paramountcy chaired by the Konor (Paramount Chief) Nene Sakite II, said,
"It is the position of the house that in order not to fall foul of the
law, it will be in our own interest not to engage in any acts which will put us
in contempt of the law or order we are invoking."
All
the divisional and sub-chiefs have since been directed to restrain their
subjects from any form of demonstration at Akuse.
"We
advise that all persons in the district, particularly Akuse, who are
sympathetic to the cause Manya Krobo should remain calm for the law to take its
cause," it added."
"The
elections would be conducted in the area, now considered part of the Dangme
West District," the source disclosed.
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