Source: newsthemegh.com
In the Eastern Region’s Asuogyaman District, two applicants from the recently concluded limited voter registration exercise were arrested, while others fled.
The accused were among the applicants that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) allegedly bused from the Ketu North and Lower Manya Krobo constituencies to Asuogyaman to register. After being contested, they were appearing before the Review Committee.
After learning of the plan to transport non-resident applicants, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) set up surveillance. With the help of the military on Adomi Bridge, they were able to stop the vehicle carrying them and turn it over to the police, who then released them to proceed with the registration process.
The NDC used the Electoral Commission’s challenge papers to contest the applicants’ eligibility.
Speaking to the media in Atimpoku, the NDC’s constituency secretary, Comrade Clement Amegatse, accused the NPP of committing a number of registration violations that caused confusion and hindered the smooth operation of the process.
“Intelligence acquired on Thursday, September 21, 2023 showed that around 3 buses full of people were entering Asuogyaman from Ketu North to be registered unlawfully.
They were quickly under observation after this and brought to the registration center on September 23 so their names could be entered in the registration book.
According to Clement Amagatse, however, “our agents challenged almost all of them as Non-Residents.”
He continued, “On Monday, October 2, 2023, we received another report of a vehicle transporting individuals from Ketu North, and this time we arrested the vehicle with the aid of military officers on the Adomi Bridge. The vehicle was later released by the military so that we could proceed to the Atimpoku Police station, but the NPP registration officials chose to disobey that directive and drove the vehicle to the registration center.
Evidently, some of the people in the car were those we had challenged on September 23rd, and they were taking them to the Review Panel along with fresh people who needed to be registered once more.
A preliminary case was made against the two applicants by the Review Committee, which was presided over by Nana Akowua, chief of Powmu. Others who were waiting to appear before the committee were forced to flee pretense-free in order to avoid being arrested when Benjamin Dzreke and Promise Kumevor were challenged for being nonresidents.
A registration extension was requested, according to the NDC in Asuogyaman, since the NPP’s many confusions during the exercise and technical difficulties with the EC’s equipment prevented over a thousand (1000) qualified voters from registering.