Heavy Police presence at EC

There was a heavy police presence on Tuesday within the precincts of the Electoral Commission (EC), with the road in front of the commission closed to traffic.

A number of armed policemen manned the road leading to the commission.

Only workers of the commission and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) were allowed to use the road after inspecting their identity cards.

 Mammoth

A political pressure group, Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA), had signalled to picket on the premises of the commission yesterday after an Accra High Court had earlier ruled that the alliance had the right to picket on the premises of the EC.

However, the police later in the day went to court praying that the picketing must be stopped, since they could not provide adequate security to picketers.

Before the workers of the EC arrived, the police had laid siege at the EC to forestall any attempt by protesters of LMVCA to disregard a court injunction against a planned picketing.

Dozens of police officers could be seen walking about, chatting and generally unengaged on the premises of the EC.

Others were stationed at the Obra Spot at Circle where the picketers who wanted a new voters register had planned to converge.

Many Nissan Patrol pickups belonging to the police also lined up on the premises of the EC with policemen in full protective gear. But an hour later, the sense of vigilance drained away. Some policemen were seen making calls while others loitered about.

 Pedestrians

Pedestrians and traffic were redirected when they attempted to use the road in front of the commission.

The media had to observe the scene across the road on the other side. When a cameraman from the Daily Graphic was spotted zooming his camera on the policemen across the road, some of them called him and started interrogating him - as to why he did not seek permission from their superiors.

 Lives and properties

According to the police, they had been deployed to protect the EC, since their function was to protect lives and properties.

The police said they only allowed workers in the area to use the road to their offices after assessing them to make sure they had business doing at the EC before they were allowed to enter the EC premises, since it was a security zone.