The Police on Tuesday disrupted a press conference by residents of Akyem Anyinasin in Abuakwa North Constituency of the Eastern Region.
Residents converged at the durbar ground in their numbers to address the media on issues of poor road network from Akyem Anyinasin to Old Tafo Akyem and its associated insecurity.
However, in the course of the press briefing, Police Personnel from Akyem Tafo District Police Command appeared at the venue to interrupt the event by interrogating the conveners for failure to secure permit from the Police before assembling.
The arrival of the police led to an abrupt resistance by the gathering who started chanting war songs.
The Police eventually left without any arrest.
Addressing the media, the residents said, the poor state of Akyem Anyinasin to Old Tafo road has become a security threat as highway robbers have taken undue advantage for the past three years to rob commuters.
Many commuters have been shot dead while others sustained gunshots wounds in the countless robbery attacks by the notorious highway robbers.
Due to the insecurity on the road, drivers refuse to ply the road after 4:00pm leaving the sick and women in labour mostly stranded.
Akyem Anyinasin residents are therefore threatening to boycott the December 7, elections if the deplorable road to Old Tafo Akyem is not fixed.
The populated community is one of the strongholds of the ruling New Patriotic Party,NPP but the residents say they will not take part in the voting exercise to renew the mandate of President Akufo Addo and the NPP.
The residents bemoaned that, despite consistently voting massively for the NPP since the inception of the Fourth Republic, the Community is always neglected by successive NPP governments.
“We voted for the NPP in the 2016 general elections with the hope that our road will be fixed but look at the state of the road. Highway robbers have been terrorising us because of the poor nature of our road to Akyem Old Tafo. There is no street light, no Police patrol. In January, this year someone was shot dead by the armed robbers.
“Just last three days, four people were nearly killed. So we are telling the government that, they say they have awarded the road on contract but only seven workers made up of four women and three men are there. We are not seeing anything serious happening on the road. So what we are saying is that, if we don’t see any serious work done on the road we are not going to allow ballot boxes to come to this community on December 7,” Barfuor Kyei also known as Joe, one of the conveners said.
Some residents also poured their sentiments stating that ” we have noticed we are not part of Ghana, we have been neglected and deceived by the constant promises that go unfulfilled. For the past two years, highways robbers are terrorizing passengers on our road killing and injured others but nobody seems to care about us”
“One Mr Richard Boateng was killed by the robbers while on motto bike from Anyinasin travelling to Akyem Tafo around 7:30 pm. Our Member of Parliament promised when she visited the bereaved family that she will ensure that police personnel patrol the road while it is rehabilitated but nothing was done. Just three-four days today the highways robbers blocked the road again at a gunpoint robbed several vehicles, took along our mobile phones, a victim narrated his story”.
