NDC shoots down calls for voter registration exercise extension

Johnson Asiedu Nketia

Asiedu NketiahThe National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it does not see the need for the calls for the Electoral Commission (EC) to extend the just ended limited voter registration exercise.

Thousands of qualified Ghanaians reportedly could not register in the 10-day exercise due to the limited registration centres provided; something that has triggered calls for an extension in order not to disenfranchise those who could not register.

But the NDC disagrees, arguing that an extension of the exercise could cause people who do not qualify to take undue advantage to register.

General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia told Onua FM Monday morning that it is unfortunate some people, especially students, could not register .

He argued university  students do not need exeat  to move out of their various campuses, hence they should have gone to registration centres outside the campus to register.

He  said “the NDC believes the exercise has been reasonably successful” but was quick to add that only the EC can tell whether they achieved the target set.

Violence

Mr Asiedu Nketia attributed the pockets of violence recorded in some areas to the different training given to the agents of the various political parties and the EC officials.

“NDC trains its agents separately, NPP trains its agents separately, all the other political parties also train their agents separately and the EC also trains its agents separately so they understand the electoral laws differently,” he argued.

Minors

Mr. Asiedu Nketia was doubtful minors can be eliminated from the country’s electoral register, until the EC introduces a device that could detect the age of people, saying “there should be some mechanisms that when you put your finger on, can detect your age. We should look at this but if this is not done, we cannot eliminate minors completely from the register.”

He said the various political parties are to be blamed for the minors on the register.
Punishments

Mr. Asiedu Nketia said electoral offenders must be punished in an unbiased manner, saying “We should put the political colour aside when it comes to electoral offences and deal with the issue”.

By Kwaku Antwi-Otoo|Onua 95.1FM|3news.com|

Leave a Reply