THE police in Ghanaian have arrested one Michael Allotey for possessing a firearm at the St. Theresa School polling station in the Okaikwei South Constituency in Accra.
This is according to a live updates report from the Ghana News Agency on Saturday, December 7.
The reports said Allotey was currently in custody assisting the Police with their investigation.
Election in Ghana, unlike many African countries, does not impose restrictions on human and vehicular movements during election days. As a result, the streets around the polling units bustled with activity, with vehicles and pedestrians moving freely.
In a related incident, the Ghana Police Service arrested an Electoral Commission official, Dery Joseph, at Kintampo South Constituency in the Bono East Region for electoral offences during the ongoing general elections, according to the news agency.
The suspect is reportedly under investigation for issuing about 15 ballot papers to voters that omitted the first presidential candidate at the Ampesika-Bayere polling station.
The ICIR had earlier reported that delay marked the general elections in Ghana in some areas observed by its reporter including at the Ebony Restaurant Pig Farm One and Two Polling Units in Ayawaso Central Municipal, Accra.
At 7:15 am, polling officials were still setting up voting materials despite the scheduled start time of 7:00 am.
The two polling units, located directly opposite each other, witnessed some voters waiting patiently as electoral staff arranged materials.
Ghanaians are voting today to elect the country’s next president and parliament in tightly contested elections marked by economic hardship and widespread dissatisfaction with incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration.
The presidential race features Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and former President John Dramani Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), among others.
In this report, The ICIR analysed how Mahama of the NPP and Bawumia of the NDC had set for a titanic contest as 18.7 million Ghanaians cast votes to elect their new president.
Bawumia and Mahama had faced each other in the past two polls as a candidate and running mate of the country’s two dominant parties, respectively.
Mahama lost at both elections. He lost while in power and seeking a second term in 2016. He also lost to Bawumia and his principal and incumbent President Nana Akufo-Ado in 2020.
Each party has been in power for 16 years since the Fourth Republic. The two parties have rotated power for a maximum of two terms since the Fourth Republic as the ruling NPP seeks to achieve an unprecedented consecutive third win.