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There is an eerie calm in Techiman, in the Bono Este region, as the families of NDC supporters shot to death by security personnel during the election-gathering exercise demand justice.
Residents of both political divisions say the fallout from the recently concluded elections and subsequent shootings have destroyed the peace that existed between them for years.
The shooting at a collection center in the Techiman South constituency claimed two lives and injured nine people.
Luv FM’s Erastus Asare Donkor, who spent a few days at Techiman assessing the mood days after the shooting, reports that the violence at the collation center and the shooting have driven a wedge between supporters of the two main political parties.
Some members of the police and military personnel fired into a crowd of NDC supporters in gathering the results of the Techiman South elections on December 8.th.
Bono East Regional Police Acting Commander DCOP Asumadu Okyere-Darko confirms that two people were killed in that incident and nine people suffered injuries of varying degrees.
One of the dead victims is Abdallah Ayaric, 18, an apprentice in the street lighting business in Techiman.
A journalist who took him to a waiting ambulance said the vehicle was already full of other people injured in the shooting.
“I saw a guy laying here. Blood flowed from his nose and eyes. At that time he was breathing very slowly. So, I lifted it up to my chest. When you breathe, at the same time you see blood oozing from the nose and eyes. When I got to the ambulance, there were already about three people in the ambulance, “he said.
At Ayaric’s family home in Techiman, his father Yusif Amalo tells Luv News that he went to the collation center with him but returned without him.
“Walking with your son and realizing in the next hour that he is dead is not easy. If he gets sick or maybe he has an accident, you could take it, ”she sobbed.
The shooting at the Bono Kyempim Hall collection center was sporadic. But the bullets that flew through the crowd took supporters like Yusif Amalo by storm.
“The vote was peaceful and nobody thought there would be violence afterwards. Their guns were always pointed to the side of NDC supporters, but no one thought that guns could be fired in our direction and into the crowd like that, because our hands were clean, ”he said.
The family says that only justice can reduce pain.
“They shot my boy from the back of the head. The family wants justice to prevail as a precedent. Everyone who matters in this country must step in and bring the guilty to face the law, ”Ayaric’s visibly sad father told Luv News.
Bullets from an officer firing directly into the crowd could have been responsible for the death of another victim.
Mohammed Tawjudeen, 41, is a truck driver and father of four children, three girls and one boy. The oldest is fifteen years old.
He is described as a calm and loving father with a deep sense of humor.
His father, Sadiq Alhassan and his mother, Hawah Musah have fond memories of him.
“When he visits me and I have no water, despite being married, he brings me water. Sometimes he asks for my clothes to be washed, ”a sobbing mother told Luv News.
In the video of the shooting, Hawah Musah is seen helping carry Mohammed motionless into the collection center.
His mouth was full of blood. When he breathed, blood gushed from his mouth, ears, nose, everywhere. I screamed; they have killed my son !! They have killed my son !! “he told Erastus Asare Donkor of Luv Fm.
Interestingly, the mother of victim Tawjudeen does not seek justice.
“I give everything to God. We don’t need anything. I have lost everything, even if they give me billions, my son will not return. So we take our case before God, ”he said.
Both Yusif, Ayaric’s father, and Mma Musah have reservations about the events that occurred at the collation center in the Techiman South constituency.
“It was a lot of fun that day until the shooting happened. NPP supporters chanted songs across the NDC side, there was no fight. So if someone says that we were fighting, it is a lie, “they said.
Nine people were injured of varying degrees from the shooting, but we were able to locate two of them; one of whom is still admitted to Wenchi Methodist Hospital.
Illiasu Sulemana was shot in the arm and had to undergo surgery to replace broken bones.
He currently sees an arm wrapped in plaster of paris with surgical metals protruding at four different points.
Abubakar Iddrisu is also recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg and can only walk with the help of claws.
Wenchi Methodist Hospital medical coordinator Dr. Abraham Oman told Luv News that the two were referred from Sagrada Familia Hospital in Techiman.
The violent December 8 compilation of the Techiman South election results and the shooting have left a sharp divide between PNP and NDC supporters who until now lived in peace.
Although most of Techiman remains calm and peaceful, a lack of faith and confidence grows underneath that threatens peace.
“Techiman South is one of the peaceful districts. This time it is different because a Northerner won the elections and they want to deny him the seat, ”a resident told the news team.
“They blame NPP for the shooting, but it was done by the security officers,” said another.
“We have never lost a life in any election here. It started with this election, but the leaders should break the trend or else it will continue in subsequent elections, ”an affected parent told Luv News.
NDC supporters in Techiman South believe their candidate, Christopher Bayere, has been robbed of victory and anticipate a new compilation.
But the hierarchy of the NPP and NDC differ greatly on the issue.
In a recent compilation of Sene West’s parliamentary results, Dan Botwe of the NPP and Dr. Kwabena Donkor of the NDC shared their views.
While the NPP says there should be no new compilation, the NDC believes that there is precedence in the case of Banda’s constituency and the compilation should be possible.
Families affected by the shooting who remain bitter say the issue will remain a time bomb until justice reigns.
