EC denies creating ‘secret’ registration centres in Ashanti Region

The Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, Mr Benjamin Bannor-Bio, has refuted accusations by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that new registration centres have secretly been created for the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.

Mr Bannor-Bio explained that the Commission was just using backup machines to complement the processes at already-existing centres since the number of applicants was huge.

He was responding to accusations by the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NDC, Mr Kwame Zu, who had alleged that the EC had clandestinely created special registration centres and was registering people who had been bussed to the centres by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Mr Zu said executives of the NDC in the region were not informed of the new centres but claimed the EC communicated the existence of those centres to the NPP.

Some of the illegal centres, Mr Zu said, are found at Manhyia and Atwima Nwabiagya.

Addressing a press conference in Kumasi on Friday, 21 June 2019, Mr Zu condemned the EC and requested that the registration at the illegal centres be stopped.

He added that the EC was giving the NPP special treatment to the detriment of the main opposition party.

Commenting on the issue, however, the Regional Youth Organiser of the NPP, Mr Nelson Owusu Ansah, said the party was unaware of any newly-created registration centres.

He said the party is interested in the issue raised by the NDC and will seek further information on the matter. He, however, denied the allegation that the NPP has connived with the EC to register people at any secret centres.

Meanwhile, the EC has registered 24,320 in the region as of Friday.

The exercise, which began on Friday, 7 June 2019 will end on Thursday, 27 June 2019.