The Minority has accused the government of using military personnel to intimidate voters under the guise of enforcing a newly imposed grain export ban.
On Monday, August 26, the government announced the immediate implementation of the ban, with Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul confirming that military forces had been deployed to enforce it at the nation’s borders. However, the minority has raised alarms, suggesting that the true motive behind the deployment is voter suppression.
The ranking member on the Defence and Interior Committee, James Agalga, voiced these concerns during a press conference in Accra on Friday. He remarked, “If there’s no hidden agenda, they should have provided timelines. The lack of timelines makes us suspect that the government is using the northern drought and potential food security challenges as a pretext to deploy the military for voter intimidation.”
He further added, “Otherwise, there should be timelines. We’ve backed our suspicions with evidence from similar actions taken in the lead-up to the 2020 elections… Our concerns are justified.”
These accusations come amid a severe drought impacting the northern regions of the country.
