State security to take charge of voters registration exercise

The Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) is deploying security personnel to all designated centres to enhance the success of the voters registration exercise which commences on Tuesday, June 30.

State Security will be in charge of the exercise in the Region, a statement signed by Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, Chairman of the Council and also the Regional Minister, copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi, stated.

It cautioned that ?no vigilante group or physically-built (macho) men would be allowed to have their way with the intention of disrupting the registration processes?.

?No one is supposed to carry weapon of any kind to any registration centre except security personnel who are permitted to do so,? the statement emphasized.

It warned that any action or inaction that sought to undermine the peace and security of the programme would be strictly dealt with by the security services within the laws of the land.

The GNA gathered that for the purposes of a smooth and efficient work by Electoral Commission (EC), the 5, 890 polling stations in the Region had been merged and zoned into 1,196 clusters.

This is to facilitate the work of the about 800 recruited EC officials expected to be on duty till registration ends in August.

According to the EC, the exercise would be conducted in five phases, followed by a six-day mopping up to capture those not registered within the stipulated period.

Additionally, special centres would be set up for qualified persons with disability to register, with plans also in place by the Commission to constitute mobile teams to attend to emergency situations.

The statement directed registration officials to report all security concerns to security officers in charge of the centres.

Anyone, it said, who would attempt to register with a document not accepted under the Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 126, would be arrested by the security officials.

Eligible voters should also report registration challenges to the registration officers in charge of the centres.

The statement indicated that nobody should take a voter identity (ID) card, birth certificate or any other document as proof of eligibility to register, except those approved under C.I.126

It said the REGSEC would enforce to the letter all the directives and safety protocols on COVID-19 as directed by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Ghana Health Service (GHS), for the benefit of the citizenry.

The statement called for the cooperation of all stakeholders, especially the political parties in ensuring a very peaceful registration exercise in the Region.