NPP MP Blasts EC After Spending GHS30k To Transport Applicants For Limited Voter Registration

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako-Mensah, from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has strongly criticized the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) for its choice to conduct the ongoing limited voter registration exercise exclusively at its district offices.

He emphasized that the EC made this decision despite receiving advice to the contrary from all political parties, including the NPP, that are part of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

Furthermore, Adomako-Mensah revealed that due to the EC’s decision, he was compelled to allocate substantial funds, amounting to thousands of Ghana cedis, for the transportation of numerous constituents to the district office to facilitate their registration.

“The EC is supposed to be independent but it must know that it is working for the people of Ghana. So, even if the law says you to be independent, whatever you’re doing should be for the betterment of the Ghanaian people.

“You went to an IPAC meeting and all the political parties there, including my party, were against EC having the registration at just one centre… Why should I be busing people from town to town just to come and register? Why?” he quizzed.

He further stated “My point is that even if you cannot expand the registration centre, increase the number of machines. So, that at every point in time, 10 or 15 people would be registering. If you think it is too expensive to expand the centres, increase the machines. I don’t see why as an MP, I should be spending GH¢20,000, GH¢30,000 just to convey people from one end to the other”.

The legislator representing Afigya Kwabre North expressed further discontent, highlighting an additional complication. He pointed out that some of the registration machines employed by the EC are experiencing functionality issues, exacerbating the challenges faced by constituents.

Moreover, due to the limitations in capacity at the district office, it has become necessary to transport individuals to the center on multiple occasions since not everyone can be registered in a single day.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has revised the number of eligible voters it hopes to register in its ongoing Limited Voter Registration Exercise.

Chairperson of the EC, Madam Jean Mensa, while interacting with the media on September 18, noted that the Commission is targeting 52 per cent of the 1,350,000 persons targeted for registration.

She however revealed that would undertake a continuous registration exercise at all its district offices in 2024 for all eligible Ghanaians who fail to partake in the current exercise to be captured in the poll book.

Madam Jean Mensa indicated that following the current exercise, there would be a mop-up registration for persons in hard-to-reach areas.

The 21-day limited voter registration exercise commenced on Tuesday, September 12.

So far, 182,831 people had been registered as of Saturday, September 16 (six days into the exercise).

Out of the total number of people registered, 53.9 per cent are males, while females constitute 46.1 per cent.

The Ashanti Region has the highest number of registrants with 29,255.

The Greater Accra and Eastern regions with have registered 27,264 and 19,327 individuals respectively.

The Central Region has registered 17,590 eligible voters, followed by the Northern Region with 12,982, the Volta Region with 12,681; the Western Region with 11,644 and the Upper East Region with 8,639.

The Bono East Region has registered 7,291 eligible voters, Western North, 6491; Bono Region, 6580; Upper West Region, 5,241; Savannah Region, 4,655; Ahafo Region, 4,519; Oti Region, 4,427 and North East Region, 4,244.

 

 

 

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