The Minority has accused the government of using military troops to frighten voters in the name of implementing a recently imposed grain export embargo.
This charge comes during a severe drought in the country’s northern regions.
On Monday, August 26, the government issued an immediate restriction on grain exports. Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul indicated that military soldiers had been dispatched to enforce the embargo along the country’s borders.
However, the Minority has expressed alarm about the government’s true objectives, claiming that the deployment is an attempt to suppress votes.
At a news conference in Accra on Friday, Ranking Member of the Defence and Interior Committee, James Agalga, stated that:
“If they have no ulterior motives, then they ought to have given us timelines. The fact that there are no timelines gives us reason to suspect that they only used the crisis, related to the drought up north and the potential for us to have some food security challenges, to deploy the military to intimidate voters.”
“Otherwise, there should be timelines. We further backed our assertions with what happened in the roundup of the 2020 elections…So our suspicions are justifiable.”
