News:
April 16, 2012
Mr Kwaku Agyenim-Boateng, Member of Parliament for Berekum over the weekend advised the Electoral Commission to consider extending the deadline of the on-going biometric voters registration exercise at some centers in the municipality.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at Berekum that, the laptops for the registration exercise at the Berekum New Town, Jinjini Presby Primary School, as well as the Berekum Amangoase centers broke down during the first phase of the exercise.
“Because of this the exercise was halted at these centers for more than two days, denying many of the eligible voters the opportunity to register after the machines were fixed”, he said.
The MP observed that those who were not covered in the first phase however went to other centers in the second phase of the exercise to register but they were prevented by some residents.
Mr. Agyenim-Boateng said though the exercise was carried out peacefully in the first phase, it was characterized by some minor problems and called on the EC to endeavour to find solutions to some of the problems to obtain a credible register.
Mr. Stephen Lord Oppong, Municipal Chief Executive told the GNA that the new biometric exercise was the panacea for electoral malpractices.
He however called on the EC to prosecute the few miscreants who registered twice in the first phase of the exercise to deter like-minded.
Mr. Oppong said the only way the government could retain power in the upcoming general election was for eligible voters to participate in the exercise and urged members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to register in their numbers.
He advised the NDC agents engaged to monitor the exercise to be vigilant and ensure that they concentrated on their work to ensure a credible register.
Mr. Oppong advised minors and foreigners not to take part in the registration exercise since they would be arrested and prosecuted.