Member of Parliament (MP) for the Awutu Senya East Constituency Mavis Hawa Koomson has defended her decision to fire a gun at a polling station in Kasoa.
According to Mrs Koomson, she fired the gun shot as a defence mechanism to prevent the opposition National Democratic (NDC) supporters from attacking her.
Her defends followed various criticisms received from individuals and civil society organizations after a scuffle in the constituency ended with gunshots and three motorbikes getting burnt.
While the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has condemned her action, describing it as disturbing and selfish, security analyst Prof Kwesi Aning called for her dismissal as a Minister of State.
Officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) had to close down the ‘Step To Christ’ registration centre in the Awutu Senya East constituency after some macho men stormed the premises with the MP.
The men, alleged to be numbering about 15 were said to be preventing some persons, who they indicated were not from the constituency, from taking part in the ongoing voter registration exercise.
In the process, the men allegedly fired gun shots and burnt the motorbikes in tempestuous argument.
However, the MP for the area who is also the Minister for Special Development Initiatives, stated that she was the one wielding a gun.
According to her, she only gave the warning shots when her car was attacked by alleged thugs affiliated with the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“As Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson entered the polling stations with her entourage, they saw some motorists who had earlier been seen with the NDC’s candidate, Naa Koryor, at Universal polling station. Following and running around the Member of Parliament’s vehicle and attacked her lead vehicle by smashing the taillight and the bumper. The said car is parked at the Kasoa police station.
“This was an attempt to ambush her and prevent her from entering the premises. Furthermore, the unidentified motorists had on face masks making it difficult to see their faces.
“The wild behaviour of the thugs caused the registrants to scatter because the place had become unsafe.
“Upon seeing the danger posed by these thugs on motorbikes who were attacking her unarmed team close to the polling station, the Member of Parliament quickly gave a warning shot in the air in self-defense to scare off the thugs,” the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Awutu Senya East constituency pointed out in a statement issued yesterday.
In the statement, Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson accused the opposition NDC) of escalating the confusion, chaos, and frustrations within the constituency.
The statement called on the leadership of the NDC to call its members within the constituency to order and also condemn the constituency executives for their role in the incident that occurred at the polling station.
“Awutu Senya East NPP is not ready to give in to these hooligans in the NDC who have vowed to destroy the registration process and will do all in her power to maintain peace and stability,” it concluded.
