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Press Release

NPP

May 03, 2016

 

STATEMENT READ BY JOHN BOADU, NPP GENERAL SECRETARY (AG) AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2016

 

Concerns in respect of the ongoing Limited Voters Registration Exercise

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen from the media, thank you once again for your swift response to our call for today’s press conference even though we gave you a very short notice.


We have called you here to lay bare to the nation critical concerns we have as a party in respect of the ongoing Limited Voters Registration Exercise. These concerns range from wrong dates identified on Voters ID cards; violence and intimidation of registrants with official involvement; bussing of minors by party officials for registration; continued attempts at registering foreigners, among others.

WRONG DATES ON ID CARDS


Ladies and Gentlemen, Day One of the registration exercise witnessed the issuance of Voter ID cards to registrants bearing the date April 27, 2016, even though the exercise commenced on April 28, 2016. It took the vigilance of our agents in the affected areas to identify the anomaly for the needed rectification. But for that action, many potential voters would have been carrying invalid ID cards, which would prevent them from exercising their franchise in the November general elections. And incidentally, this anomaly took place only at the strongholds of the NPP, precisely the Ashanti Region.

VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION BY MACHOMEN


Ladies and gentlemen, a very unfortunate development in the ongoing registration exercise is the unleashing of thugs and Machomen to cause violence and intimidate potential registrants in some of our strongholds. This appears to be a carefully tailored strategy by the NDC to reduce the number of voters in our strongholds. And these obvious criminal acts are being perpetrated in some cases with the involvement of government officials, including Regional Ministers and DCEs.

For instance, NDC-hired Machomen on motorbikes, and wielding machetes, scattered EC registration machines at the GYENYASE Registration centre in the Asokwa Consistency of the Ashanti Region.

At the Council Hall in the APIOSO Electoral Area in the Ejura-Sekyedumasi constituency, NDC-hired thugs resorted to throwing stones to disrupt the registration exercise and to scare away potential registrants.

A similar incident happened at Banda in the Brong-Ahafo Region where the MP for the area brought in Machomen to intimidate our polling agents in the full glare of the Police who failed to take any action.

With the Police failing to take any action, the Machomen were encouraged further to subject our agents to severe beatings and further drove them away from the registration centre, with the EC officials going ahead with the registration without our agents.


At Kukuom in the Asunafo South constituency of the Brong-Ahafo Region, Hon Eric Opoku, the Regional Minister, brought in Machomen to attack our constituency executives. Some were beaten while others were given death threats. In fact, our polling agents also had to run for their dear lives while the registration went on.

A similar incident took place at Ntotrosu in the Asutifi North constituency where the wife of the DCE for the area brought Machomen in her car to the Registration center to beat up any NPP person found around. Even the MP for the area was not spared the attacks for which he was rushed to hospital for treatment.

REGISTRATION OF MINORS


The NDC has been making frantic efforts to get minors onto the Voters Register. These minors are bussed to the registration centres with known NDC local officials leading them. It is, however, instructive to bring to the fore that in most cases, these efforts have been resisted and foiled by the local people who are familiar with these kids, and are determined to ensure that the change agenda is not thwarted by any foul play.

REGISTRATION OF FOREIGNERS


Faced with obvious rejection by the Ghanaian electorate, the NDC is seeking all means to get some foreigners registered in the ongoing exercise. This is mostly happening in the border towns of Western and Volta regions.

PREVENTION OF SHS STUDENTS FROM REGISTERING


Aware that the disgruntled youth of the country will reject their government in the upcoming elections, members of the NDC have been seeking to prevent SHS students who have turned 18 years from taking part in the exercise. One such attempt happened at Abetifi in the Eastern Region, where students of Abefiti Presby SHS were being prevented from registering. That led to serious misunderstanding between the NDC youth organizer and EC officers.


OUR CONCERNS/POSITION


Ladies and gentlemen, we are prepared to do everything possible to ensure the success of the ongoing registration exercise. But we are very worried about the lukewarm attitude of some of the security agencies in allowing obvious wrongdoings and criminal acts to take place at the registration centres.

We are particularly worried about what can be expected in the November general elections, if we can witness such scale of violence and intimidation being masterminded by officials of government, and being unleashed in the full glare of the Police.

We are therefore calling upon the security agencies, especially the Ghana Police Service, to rise up to the occasion by checking the naked abuse of power by officials of the NDC government who are encouraging lawlessness at the registration centres with gross impunity. If the lawlessness is not checked now, we fear the November general elections will be chaotic and lead the nation on a dangerous path.

Again, we want to serve notice that we will not allow any group of people to continue to employ dubious means to get names of unqualified people, especially foreigners, into the Voters Register. Ghana’s election is meant for only Ghanaians who feel the harsh economic realities imposed on them by the Mahama government.

We expect the Electoral Commission to ensure that they discharge their duties in accordance with the regulations guiding the ongoing registration exercise and take all the appropriate steps to prevent a situation where a potential voter could be robbed of his or her civic right to take part in the upcoming general elections through no fault of theirs.

The wind of change is blowing across the length and breadth of the country. The people of Ghana are determined to ensure the exit of the Mahama government from power in order to save our nation from further collapse. We are prepared to do everything legitimate to ensure that the wishes of the majority of our people come into reality in this year’s elections.

Thank you.

 

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