The Director of Legal Affairs for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Edudzi Tamakloe, has remarked that the behavior of Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and MP for Awutu Senya East, has empowered her son to partake in violence within the constituency.
Violence erupted on Sunday, June 2, around 5 a.m. during a voter transfer exercise at the Electoral Commission (EC) office, involving clashes between the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Reports indicate that the altercation stemmed from a disagreement regarding the queuing arrangement of voters seeking to transfer their votes to the constituency.
Ato Koomson, the son of the incumbent MP Mavis Hawa Koomson, sustained a stab wound to the chest during the violence and was promptly taken to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.
Speaking on TV3 New Day on Monday, June 3, Tamakloe highlighted, among other issues, the incumbent MP’s persistent involvement in disturbances during electoral processes in the constituency.
“The challenge we have is that we don’t call out wrongdoing for whatever it is,” he stressed.
“In the 2020 registration, Hawa Koomson went to the voter registration centre fully armed and only armed, she fired live ammunition at a voter registration centre…nothing had happened to her so that is what has emboldened the son. In fact, Hawa Koomson is living the ‘Republic of Kasoa’ as though she is the governor.
“She does whatever pleases her and so that is what has emboldened the son who thinks that now even that the two parties have agreed, the road map, that has ensured to much peace so far…it’s been more than 23 days the whole registration has happened without issues. Why the transfer?” he noted.
“At around 4:30, we got information that there was a misunderstanding over the seating arrangement at the centre. And so we got there and noticed that the issue was escalating. Ato Koomson the son of MP Hawa Koomson came around and tried to maintain peace but one gentleman from the NDC resisted and decided to attack Ato Koomson instead.
“The police have arrested the gentleman in question and so we will follow up later” Mike Addy constituency secretary for the NPP in Awutu Senya East told Accra-based Citi FM.
“We are closely monitoring the actions of the police in dealing with the issues. We have noticed with concerns the police decision to take into custody Daniel Techie Mensah, the NDC constituency organiser and this action appears selective and raises questions about the impartiality of the police,” portions of the statement read.