The Bono Regional Police Command has identified seven hotspots for election violence in the Bono Region ahead of the 2020 general elections.
Speaking at a workshop organized by the Police Command in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association in Sunyani, the Bono Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Kingsley Augustine Oppong disclosed that the Police Command made the decision not to wait until violence erupts before they take action.
“In fact, it is not one spot, in the Bono Region alone, I can mention Banda Ahenkro, Berekum town and its environs, Nsuatre, Ankrankwanta, Drobu Japekrom, why? Because you know, there is bad blood there and because of that, there is a curfew. If we don’t take care, somebody with a different intention may use any opportunity to cause mayhem. So, these areas are some of the areas that police know, for now, as our flashpoints. But we have planned not to allow anything to happen before the command will take a decision.”
Mr. Oppong added that the Command is poised to protect lives and properties in these areas.
“We have dispatched some trained men into the communities and from the intelligence we are gathering, we are on the right course. Those guys who think they are bad boys should be warned. We are saying let’s go to the election intact, finish and come and live in peace. Whoever will be recalcitrant, we will deal with them according to the law.”
The National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons identified over 4,000 hotspots for election violence in Ghana following the proliferation of arms in these areas.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Jones Applerh, at the launch of the Commission’s ‘Ballot without bullets’ campaign aimed at achieving a zero gun violence in the general election said the commission is committed to ensuring peaceful polls by curbing the influx of illegal arms.
He stated that “data from Police showed that 4,098 hotspots have been identified across the country. Regions with the highest hotspots include Ashanti with 635 flashpoints, 537 in Central, 405 in Eastern Region, and 323 in Western. The porous nature of our borders has been a major source of illicit flow of arms into our country.”
