Voter registration first-class ‘farce’ – Volta group

The just-ended limited voter registration exercise organised by Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) was a first-class farce, a complete shambles from top to bottom, according to a pressure group that calls itself Volta4Change.

The group said alleged registration of foreigners and relocation of registration centres to neighbouring countries, specifically Togo, were amongst the “grand acts of corruption and malfeasance that took place during the exercise”.

“These acts could have been predicted, given the febrile political environment currently existing in the run-up to the 2016 election,” the group further stated.

A statement issued by the group said: “Although the EC’s management of the process was poor, their ability to effectively manage the exercise was hamstrung by the originators of the nefarious acts that took place – the governing party, the NDC.”

“Sensing the nationwide unpopularity with their governance, which by all indices has been an absolute failure, John Dramani Mahama has resorted to any means, however despicable, to preserve his scandal-ridden incumbency.

“Due to its rapidly dwindling support within Ghana and especially within Volta Region, John Mahama has sought to co-opt Togolese nationals as part of his constituency base, bussing them into Ghana where necessary, even to the extent of constructing cross-border roads to facilitate this. Is there no limit to John Mahama’s desperation?”

It added: “The NDC also has no compunction in using the security forces to employ violence in a desperate attempt to keep its grubby hands on power.

“Incidents in the Volta region have brought to light instances of police allegedly beating up a citizen who dared to try and challenge a police vehicle taking a registration machine into Togo.

"The fact that the police is allegedly involved in corrupt electoral practices is bad enough. That the police saw [it] fit [to] brutally beat up a man who patriotically saw it as his duty to challenge such flagrant corruption and abuse of power, is evidence that the NDC is prepared to utilise any means, however foul, immoral or corrupt, to achieve its objectives.

“In any civilised democracy, such nefarious activity would be worthy of a public inquiry and prosecutions.”