Low return out in district and unit committee elections in Yendi

Yendi, Aug 12, GNA - Turnout at the District and Unit Committee elections in Yendi was low, as the exercise was not even known to some of the electorate.

People were seen sitting under summer huts, trees and on their verandas in groups resting and not going to cast their votes. In the streets people walked to and fro while seamstresses, cooked food sellers and petty traders were busy at work as if nothing was at stake. Women queued to fetch water and showed no interest in the elections. On the way from Tamale to Yendi, the reporter saw farmers and farm hands harvesting maize and groundnuts instead of being at home to cast their votes.

Some presiding officers at the polling stations who spoke to the GNA attributed the low turn out to inadequate education on the elections, funeral and farming activities and the day coinciding with the Yendi Market Day.

Others were also of the opinion that people in the district had lost interest in the district and unit committee elections since it was not as important as the presidential and parliamentary elections. Some of the polling stations the GNA visited showed that some of the electorate voted for their assembly members but refused to vote for their unit committee members.

There was general lukewarm attitude towards the elections.