The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, has been advised to tread cautiously with regard to the upcoming voters’ registration exercise.
The caution is coming from the Paramount Chief of the Goaso Traditional Area in the Ahafo region, Nana Akwasi Bosompra I.
According to the Paramount Chief, the Commission’s decision to solely conduct the exercise scheduled to commence on September 12, at its district offices will not be in the interest of many new voters.
He insisted that many eligible voters might lack the means to travel from their villages to the EC’s district offices to partake in the exercise.
“What is Jean Mensa doing, has she been to Ahafo before? Does she know the town that follows Esumira. Does she know the town after Kasapin, so is Jean Mensa saying that all these people, if they want to write their names, should have three people and travel to Goaso? Is she going to pay for their fare?”
“She should be careful not to bring any confusion into this country because of a woman’s decision, I’m pleading with her, she should change that rule and decentralise the process. Because a rich person can bus people to register and vote for him, but that person is someone we may not even like,” he added.
The Electoral Commission has announced that it will commence the 2023 voters’ registration exercise on Tuesday, September 12, and end on Monday, October 2.
In the said announcement, the Commission added that the exercise will take place at its district offices across the country.
Jean Mensa, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, made this known on Thursday, August 17, at a press briefing in Accra dubbed, ‘Let the Citizen Know.’
She disclosed a GH¢10 charge for the replacement of a lost or misplaced voter’s ID card.
Following this, some seven political parties in the country on Monday, August 21 expressed their displeasure about the decision.
They insisted that any decision to restrict the upcoming voter registration exercise to its district offices would not achieve its intended purpose(s).
For instance, The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has issued a warning to the EC not to limit pending voters’ registration exercise at its district offices.
The party says should the EC fail to adhere to the advice, it will take legal action against it.
NDC’s Director of Legal Affairs, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, who issued the warning said many new voters will be disenfranchised if the EC conducts the exercise in its district offices.
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