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I'll create an 'all-women force' to protect ballot boxes - NDC Women's Organiser

I'll create an 'all-women force' to protect ballot boxes - NDC Women's Organiser

The Women’s Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Hajia Joyce Zainab Mahama, who’s seeking reelection, has spoken of her plans to create a “Special all-women force” to guard ballot boxes during elections.

According to her, women are more vigilant and would be more effective in ensuring that ballot boxes are not tampered with at the polling stations.

“Women are peacemakers. If you put something in front of a woman, she’d like to take good care of it. I want the women to be trained. It’s a force to take care of our ballot boxes.”

Hajia Joyce Zainab Mahama added that the trained women will be deployed to man every polling station across the country on election day.

“I am going to train them, I’m a physical educator. I’ll train them to be vigilant. That’s what party people are supposed to do, the women can be polling agents. If you make a woman a polling agent, she’ll be more vigilant.”

The major political parties have often been accused of forming vigilante groups to man polling stations during elections.

Sometimes these groups have been involved in some election incidents including some reports of ballot box snatching, and assault on supporters of opponents.

Delta Force members being taken to court

The vigilante problem

The activities of vigilante groups have come under the spotlight once again after heavily-built men believed to be members of pro-NPP group, Delta Force recently stormed a meeting of constituency executives which was being chaired by the MP for Old Tafo Pankrono Constituency, who doubles as Minister of State for Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Anthony Osei Akoto.

The men disrupted the meeting and allegedly wanted to physically abuse the Member of Parliament over failed election promises.

The Member of Parliament was however assisted to escape unhurt.

The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has suggested that the lenient punishments handed to members of vigilante groups for previous offences have emboldened them to persist in their illegal activities.

The Commission’s Chairperson,  Josephine Nkrumah, has also called on all political parties to disband all their vigilante groups.

“There should be prosecution that is deterrent, not prosecution where you fine somebody GHc1, 300 for obstructing the course of justice. I thought that [the punishment was not deterrent enough]. I think that perhaps we should have seen some incarceration. I think that if we had seen fines, the fines should have been significant. There’s a range of fines, there’s the minimum and maximum but I don’t believe that they received the maximum for what they did.”

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citinewsroom.com/Ghana

Source: citifmonline.com

Original Story on: Citi Newsroom
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