Senior Political Science Lecturer at University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has cautioned Members of Parliament and political party leaders to desist from visiting registration and electoral centres.

According to him, the visits may cause provocations, which will lead to clashes, if two opposing party leaders and their loyalists show up at one centre at the same time.

“What are you going to do at the registration centres? Don’t you have agents and security officials there? Let them work,” Prof Gyampo said on JoyNews' Newsfile, Saturday.

He stated that it is not within the power of political party leaders to solve issues at the centres especially when there are security agencies and EC officials present.

If MPs and party leaders are interested in touring centres, they should only visit with their security details instead of loyalists whose actions may cause a fight, the Political Science lecturer added.

His comments come after the Member of Parliament for the Awutu Senya East Constituency, Hawa Koomson, admitted to firing a gun at a voters’ registration centre in the constituency on Monday, July 20.

The Special Development Initiatives Minister told JoyNews that she only fired the shots when her life was threatened by some thugs alleged to be affiliated to the opposition NDC.

She was subsequently arrested and her gun and its license were seized by the Central Regional Police Command.

Prof Gyampo said that Hawa Koomson's actions show she had very little trust in the security agencies at the centre to handle any mishap.

Hence, ahead of the 2020 general elections, it is important that short term measures like discouraging MPs from touring electoral centres are implemented, he stated.

He added that party leaders can recruit and train the right people to oversee the processes at the centres to prevent them from touring the electoral centres themselves.

Prof Gyampo stated that it is also important the leaders trust the security agencies to carry out their responsibilities.

“On a longer-term, I think that acts of thuggery that surround our electoral processes will not stop unless we do something proactive to depoliticise the security services of the land.”