The People’s National Convention (PNC) wants Ghanaians to reject the ongoing limited voter registration exercise because it has been poorly managed.
The party says the current exercise is a waste of state resources might not yield the expected outcomes.
Speaking to Citi News, the National Chairman of the PNC, Bernard Mornah said the commission clearly showed incompetence on the delivery of the exercise.
“This exercise is a sham, one that is a waste of public resources and will not achieve the maximum benefit. It is one that the people of Ghana must reject because this is not what they have paid for. Parliament has approved sufficient resources to enable the Electoral Commission to conduct a holistic voters’ registration. The manner by which the Commission is going about it is unthinkable. ”
The 2019 limited voters’ registration exercise is organized by the Electoral Commission ahead of the local level elections has also been fraught with challenges.
It has been hit with poor internet connectivity, failed verification machines among others.
EC’s limited registration exercise designed to create confusion – NDC
Already, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Electoral Commission of deliberately conducting the exercise in a manner that will disadvantage other political parties.
The NDC says its monitoring of the exercise has revealed a well-rehearsed approach by the EC together with the governing NPP to disenfranchise voters in NDC strongholds.
The General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia alleged that EC officials and some NPP officials have been captured on record registering minors and preventing the registration of applicants in NDC strongholds.
“[This exercise] seems to point to a calculated and well-rehearsed orchestration designed by the Electoral Commission to intentionally create a state of confusion that will allow privilege and well positioned political players to exploit in pursuit of their parochial interest rather than the national interest of securing a credible register that is prerequisite for any free and fair election.”
Voter registration matters
The NPP in the Ashanti Region said some NDC agents deliberately delayed the registration process by raising needless disagreements.
The latest development occurred on Thursday when the registration exercise was halted temporarily after an altercation ensued between members of both parties.
Three suspects were also detained at the Adabraka Police in Accra for the illegal possession and filling of guarantee forms for prospective voters in the ongoing limited voter registration exercise on Saturday.
Reports say the suspects were caught signing the guarantee forms which are solely filled by EC officials for applicants who do not have the required identification cards.
An eyewitness narrated the incident to Citi News, saying “there were signing guarantor forms and they were thumbprinting for people and the forms they had were bulky so I raised alarm.”
