Registration officers in Ho complain of lack of furniture

Ho, Mar. 18, GNA- A number of Registration Officers in Ho have called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to plan and work towards the provision of its own furniture rather than depend on the goodwill of the public. Mr Emmanuel Kofi Adanu, Registration Officer at the Bankoe L.A. JSS Centre said the EC should aim at procuring chairs and tables for such exercises since elections are becoming a permanent feature of the country's democratic system.

Mr Adanu, a teacher, said he had been involved in election exercises since 1961, and that it was unfair for the EC to ask the Registration Officers to provide their own chairs and tables for such a national exercise.


He said in some cases some schools and other public institutions, were unable to release their chairs and tables to the officers, and this compelled them to hire such furniture when they did not know how much they were going to be paid.


Mr Adanu suggested that the EC should institute a mechanism to enable the Registration Officers to file field assessment reports to complement reports it receives from its field supervisors.


This he explained would help the EC to improve on subsequent exercises in respect of conditions under which its temporary field staff operate. Mr Adanu said greater openness is required from the EC especially concerning what would be paid to the temporary field staff.


Mr Robert Awumee, Registration Officer at the Methodist Primary Centre at Bankoe said it would have been proper for the EC in fairness, to come out with how much it was going to pay the registration officials during their orientation.

He said part of what they would be paid should have been paid to them to be able to meet exigencies during the period.


Mr Mohammed Addoquaye, Volta regional Director of EC reacting to the issues raised, repeated that each registration officer would be paid 200,000 cedis for the two-weeks while their assistants would receive 120,000 cedis each.


Regarding the provision of chairs and tables, he said it was the patriotic duty of every citizen and institution to support the EC with resources to make the exercise a success.


Mr Agbesi Senaza, an agent of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at one of the centres urged the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) and allied institutions to intensify education for the people to respond to the exercise.


He said political parties lack the resources to carry out such public education, as some of them were not even able to sponsor agents to observe the registration process.