<<Print>>Mysterious items suggestive of juju or fetish rituals have been dumped at the Electoral Commission (EC) office at Nkoranza in the Brong-Ahafo Region, warning officials to stay away from Tuesday’s district level elections.
The action of the people was fuelled by what they say is the authorities’ refusal to retrieve their monies from DKM and God Is Love Fun Club, all financial houses in which they have invested heavily but which are under the lock and key of the Bank of Ghana.
The juju placed at the EC’s district office caused maximum fear and panic among both staff and the townsfolk yesterday morning.
News about the weird spectacle soon spread across the town and within a short time the office became a centre of attraction as everybody sought to catch a glimpse of them, even before workers of the commission reported for duty.
The workers must have been taken aback upon setting eyes on the objects when they reported for duty in their preparation for next week’s district assembly polls.
The items were reportedly made up of a red cock hanging from the ceiling of one of the offices with a green plastic rope.
There was an ominous inscription in red which read,
‘Warning To The Electoral Commission’—being the headline—and followed by these contents: ‘Do not send any ballot box or paper to any polling station for voting. If not Tom Kramo, Sessiman Toa Adinkra should kill your boss and all the members of Electoral Commission!!!!!!!’
There was also a black cock hanging from a tree in the EC’s compound with a green plastic rope.
An egg and the shells of another were also lying beside a padlock and the legs of a fowl – all of which are items of fetish rituals in the rural parts of the country.
As for the EC officials, the fear the items had caused in them was beyond description as they wondered what steps to take to counter the juju which had obviously been invoked on them should they go ahead to discharge their duties.
The watchman at the office became a virtual tour guide as he narrated his experience with the men who put the juju stuff at the place the previous night to the horde of spectators.
According to him, while on duty the previous night, six men descended upon the compound saying that they were there to undertake some ritualistic assignments.
He said given their aggressiveness, he was unable to decline their request, adding that the men invoked the names of several shrines in the locality whose vengeance they said would descend upon whoever carried ballot boxes to any electoral area. Those who defy this order – and this refers to the EC staff working in the location – should die as the invocation of the shrines implied.
Ekow Essien, the district electoral officer, is said to have refused to comment on the spectacle, explaining that he would only do so after getting clearance from his regional boss at Sunyani.
Ministers Chased
The action of the residents forced the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda, and the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Eric Opoku, to dash quickly to the place. But they were almost lynched by some irate youth on arrival.
The action was triggered by what they say was the regional minister’s failure to help them redeem their monies from DKM and God Is Love Fun Club.
God Is Love Fun Club and DKM are part of a number of financial institutions banned by the Bank of Ghana for operating without permit.
Since the ban took effect, persons who invested in the companies have appealed to various authorities, including the first lady, Lordina Mahama, who comes from the town, to help them recover monies they saved but their calls have fallen on deaf ears.
They have therefore decided to boycott the district assembly elections and have called on the dreaded Kumasi deity, ‘Antoa Nyamaa,’ to punish anyone in the town who would cast a vote in the upcoming elections.
Reports say the machete-wielding youth, acting on behalf of persons who saved with the financial companies, stormed the district assembly, held Collins Dauda and Eric Opoku hostage and vowed to stay until their monies were paid.
The ministers managed to escape with the help of their security men and sped off in their vehicles, leaving journalists who went with them behind.