The Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Sammy Gyamfi says some 17 Ghanaians who were at a voters registration centre in the Oti Region were arrested because they spoke French.
Sammy Gyamfi in the weekly NDC press conference said these individuals were in a queue to register for their Voters ID but were approached by some armed men from the National Security who greeted them in French which they responded. The operatives concluded these individuals were not Ghanaians and quickly had them arrested.
Mr Gyamfi says one’s nationality can’t be determined by the languages they speak because President Akufo-Addo himself speaks French fluently.
“Yesterday about 17 Ghanaians who were in a queue waiting for their turn to register at a village in the Oti Region were arrested by armed National Security operatives. The operatives without any provocation fired warning shots and disrupted the whole process. The crime of those arrested was that they speak french, so the operatives greeted them and asked them a few questions in French and they responded, they then concluded they are Togolese. So in Ghana, one’s nationality is now determined by the language you speak. One wonders if the President is Togolese himself because he speaks fluent French.”
He further added that the NDC if voted into power will end tribal bigotory.
The NDC has accused the government of trying all means to disenfranchise people in their stronghold especially the Volta and the Oti Region.
They have complained about intimidation from military personnel who have been deployed to the area and have called on the President to immediately withdraw them.
However President Akufo-Addo says he is unaware of any form of intimidation in the ongoing voters registration exercise and says the process has so far been smooth.
They have spoken heavily against the military presence in the Volta and Oti Region.