Aboah Cautions Parties Against Machomen

The Interior Minister, William K. Aboah has advised political parties to refrain from hiring the services of �macho� men to create mayhem at the various polling centers on December 7. According to him, such act is unconstitutional and goes contrary to the election laws. He noted that security officers at the polling centers would deal drastically with persons who disturb the peace in the country since �macho� men have no stake in the elections. �Democracy involves cross fertilization of ideas but not exchange of hostilities because of divergent ideological standpoints. Political parties should refrain from acts which may have the propensity to drive the country into any form of communal violence,� he said The Minister made this known on Thursday at Cape Coast when he interacted with security officers in the region to familiarize himself with strategies of the regional security command to enforce law and order. The minister, who was on a two-day working visit to the Central region, was accompanied by his deputy, Kobby Acheampong and other administrators from the interior ministry. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Aboah stated that the government would resource all security agencies to improve service delivery without fear or favour. He stated that Ghanaians had entrusted their hopes in the security services to ensure incident-free elections, a situation he said would help promote impartiality and integrity to consolidate the democratic gains Ghana had chalked. Mr. Aboah therefore appealed to them to ensure that their services commensurate with those of government to justify the investment by the tax payer. The Interior Minister further advised political parties to warn their followers not to stay at the polling centers after casting their ballot. �Anyone who goes to the polling centers to vote should go back home peacefully since our security operatives will not allow people to stay in the perimeters of the voting premises,� he stated. Mr. Aboah however assured the security personnel of their full allowances before being deployed to their respective centers to protect the ballot boxes. He further assured Ghanaians of free, fair and transparent elections, adding that since Ghana is well noted for its democratic practices, his outfit would do every thing possible to maintain the reputation of the country.