Chaos at Ejisu as security operatives disrupt assembly meeting

Assembly members in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region suspended a scheduled general meeting on Thursday (7 May) after suspected National Security operatives reportedly stormed the venue and began screening participants with electronic scanning devices, officials and witnesses said.

The meeting, which was expected to consider development and administrative issues, had not yet started when the operatives entered the assembly hall in uniforms and demanded security checks for members before proceedings could continue.

The sudden operation led to confusion and the immediate suspension of the meeting, with assembly members raising concerns about procedure and prior notification.

Frank Ackah Nelson, President of the Ghana Association of Assembly Members (GAAM), condemned the incident, saying such interventions were not part of normal assembly operations.

“We are condemning it because in assembly meetings, you only come when you are being invited by the assembly and we don’t operate with national security and it doesn’t happen,” he said. “If there is a peculiar issue, I think the assembly members have to be informed that national security was going to brief the assembly. Other than that we don’t invite them to come and scan assembly hall, so it is condemnable.”

He questioned the circumstances under which the operatives were deployed, adding that the municipal leadership could not plausibly claim ignorance.

“The MCE says she is not aware of their presence, but I don’t believe that. I can’t understand. Being the chairman of the municipal security council, she cannot tell me that she is unaware of their presence,” he said.

Deepened tensions

Nelson said the situation had deepened tensions among assembly members, many of whom declined to proceed with the meeting.

“For now I have summoned a national executive meeting so we will come out with our findings,” he added. “The assemblymen are not happy. This is unprecedented and they are not ready to come to the meeting until the matter is resolved.”

Authorities have not yet publicly commented on the presence of the security personnel or the reason for the screening exercise.

Story by Jonathan Ofori/Asaase radio