Sammy Gyamfi said 17 persons were apprehended by National Security officials because they could answer to the greeting ‘Bonjour’.
He said this during a press conference organised by the NDC, where the party accused government of using the security services to disenfranchise non-Akans and Ewes.
He alleged that National Security officials stormed Kpena in the Nkwanta South of the Oti Region to round up persons who spoke fluently in French.
“They [National Security officials] went to a village called Kpena in the Nkwanta South of the Oti Region, arrested about 17 people who were in a queue waiting for their turn to register and in the process the so-called National Security operatives without any provocation fired warning shots at the registration centre thereby disrupting the entire registration exercise at the centre,” Mr. Gyamfi said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, what was the crime of these people who were arrested and molested? Their crime was that they speak French.”
The NDC National Communications Officer said it was unfair that languages were being used to determine one’s citizenship.
“And so these so called National Security Operatives greeted them ‘Bonjour’ and asked them a few questions in the French language and they responded.
“Once they were able to respond in the French language, they concluded that they’re Togolese and not Ghanaians and so in Akufo-Addo’s Ghana today, citizenship is proved by the foreign languages you are able to speak,” he added.
This comes after Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul dismissed claims by the NDC that the military are intimidating voter registrants in the Volta region.