The President, Nana Akufo-Addo has justified military deployments along the country’s borders amidst the compilation of the new voters’ register and the rising cases of COVID-19 infections.
In an address to the nation on Monday, June 29, 2020, the President said the move is in the best interest of the country.
He said the deployment is to save the country against the intrusion of foreign nationals who have the potential of jeopardizing Ghana’s democracy and health efforts in these crucial moments.
“The longstanding deployment of security personnel, especially the military, along our borders is another dimension of this process of guaranteeing the peace of the nation. To shore up our borders against such attacks, and to defend our nation’s territorial integrity, the Armed Forces, at least since I came into office, have been very proactive in engaging in operations to secure our borders and foil any potential terror attacks on our soil. Deployments of soldiers in areas along our borders have been regular, and residents living in border towns will bear testimony to this”, he said.
The military personnel have been sighted in the Volta Region, Oti Region, Northern Region, Upper East Region and Upper West Region, which are known to be friendly to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
As a result, the party and its flagbearer, John Mahama, have complained the deployment of military personnel was meant to intimidate residents from coming out to register to vote.
But Nana Addo who made reference to how the use of the milliary has led to the arrest of some illegal immigrants into the country in the past, he stated that such intimidation concerns are misplaced.
“Let me state, without any form of equivocation, that these deployments are not in any way intended to intimidate or prevent eligible Ghanaians from registering to vote in December. They are there for their express purpose, which is to guard our borders. That is the limit of their remit, and they will not be permitted to stray beyond that remit,” he said.
