Calm has been restored to the Northern regional town of Walewale after brief violent clashes between youth groups aligned to the Ghana’s two main political parties.
The timely intervention of the police prevented a bloodbath between youth of the NPP and NDC in the Walewale constituency of the Northern Region.
The two groups are Bawumia Youth for Change linked to the opposition New Patriotic Party and Zaadiaya Youth; associated with the governing National Democratic Congress and Abubakari Abdullah; the Regional Minister who doubles as Member of Parliament for the area.
The two groups faced off after they laughed their ‘campaigns simultaneously and at venues close to each other. Unsurprisingly, the political parties have traded blame about who started the confrontations.
Some young men have sustained various degrees of injury.
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According to the local police, patrol teams are moving through the town to identify and immediately quell any further outburst between the youth groups.
During elections, unofficial groups associated to political parties and candidates spring up. They are usually made of up young men who wield some form of influence in their communities. Political parties seeks to attract these groups with various favours in order to gain their allegiance and votes.
These groups are a major concern for security officials and peace groups as there are fears the parties use them to perpetuate electoral violence.
