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Regional News of Thursday, 21 December 2023

Source: Nana Peprah, Contributor

Assembly elections: Police forced to storm Ahwiaa Overseas to pick ballots amid severe tension

Enoch Agyapong Mensah (right) is the elected Assembly for Ahwiaa Overseas Enoch Agyapong Mensah (right) is the elected Assembly for Ahwiaa Overseas

A drama ensued at the Ahwiaa Overseas electoral area following unprecedented tension that erupted between supporters of two main contenders in the just-ended assembly elections on Tuesday.

According to sources, the whole incident started after supporters of the two main contenders; Enoch Agyapong Mensah and Shadrach Antwi, had declared themselves winners following a delay by one electoral officer to present a pink sheet to be added to the already accumulated results.

The tension was so high to the extent that some journalists who tried to pick a report had to seek cover following an attack by these aggressive supporters.

Lawyer George Oppong who is the presiding member of the Kwabre East Municipal Assembly had to call for police reinforcement before they could carry the ballot papers to the EC's district headquarters for a final declaration of results.

It is worth noting that three persons contested in all. At the end of the declaration, Enoch Agyapong Mensah won by 487 votes against his main contender, Shadrach Antwi who also garnered 455 votes. The third contender, Michael Nutsuga also got 65 votes.

Speaking after his declaration, he expressed joy over his victory in such a tough contest amid a tense environment and pledged to work hard to ensure development. He also pledged to work in unity with his other opponents who lost the context to ensure the well-being of the electoral area.

"We met together with to engage the entire community to lay down our visions a few days before the election. I think all my contenders also had great visions, and working together with their ideas on board would help to ensure success", he said.

He alleged that it was very unfortunate the Kwabre East MCE, Opoku Agyemang Bonsu sponsored his main contender and did everything to disgrace him. Though he was pained by the development, he pledged to put everything aside and work together with the MCE to help achieve a common goal.