Don't use macho-men on Election Day - EC appeals

Agona Swedru, Oct. 17, GNA - Mr Kwame Amoah, Agona West Municipal Electoral Director, has implored political parties to appoint educated polling agents and avoid the services of macho men to ensure sanity at polling stations.

He said the Electoral Commission (EC) would train all recognised polling agents to enable them become conversant with the electoral laws and processes before the December 7, 2088 elections. Mr Amoah gave the advice when some parliamentary candidates in the constituency filed their nomination papers to contest the 2008 elections.

They were Mr John Kwesi Agyabeng, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Agona East, Mr Samuel Obodai, NPP for Agona West and Deputy Central Regional Minister and Mr Paapa Ibrahim Zubairu of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) aspiring candidate for Agona West. Mr Amoah noted that at Agona East, NDC, NPP, Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and Convention Peoples Party (CPP) picked forms but only the NPP candidate filed the nomination on Thursday at the close of the day. Mr Amoah urged parties to engage the services of persons, who could read and write to ensure free, fair and transparent elections. Speaking to the press, Mr Agyabeng said the party was working hard to increase the percentage of votes saying the NPP had 57 percent of the total votes cast in the previous election for both residential and parliamentary and said the party had targeted between 70 and 80 percent this year.

According to him, people in Agona East would not give their votes to NDC because NPP had done a lot of work in the constituency. Mr Obodai urged people in the Agona West constituency to give him their mandate for the third time to continue the good works. He called on members of the party not to vote "skirt and blouse" on the December 7, adding that NPP had chalked economic successes for the past eight years and there was the need for Nana Akufo-Addo, the party's flagbearer to continue.