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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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