'Who has the power to decide who can register for voters ID?' - A Plus asks

Social commentator and leader of the People’s Project, Kwame Asare Obeng known in political circles as A Plus has questioned the motive behind government’s deployment of military men to some registration centres across the country, specifically in Banda Ahenkro.

In a Facebook post, he queried who amongst the two authorities – Electoral Commission and the Ghana Armed Forces – determines people who are qualified enough to take part in the ongoing voters registration exercise.

The post dated August 1, 2020 read, “I want to understand this. Who has the power to decide who can register to vote and who cannot? Is it the EC or the military?”

His reaction follows the emergence of a video detailing the intimidating presence of some military men at a voters registration centre in Banda-Ahenkro.

Aside wielding guns and keeping guard at the centre, some military men were captured engaging in a heated argument with prospective registrants who had queued to undergo the process.

A visibly angry resident who identified himself as the Osiakwan of the Banda Traditional council told journalists that “We the Akan people have long been marrying Voltarians and they have been marrying us too but I just want to know why the soldiers in Ghana are coming here to monitor a voter registration exercise.”

He added, “It’s just plain intimidation and so the government of Ghana, especially Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, whatever that you’re looking for in the town of Banda-Ahenkro, you will surely get it. Nobody should touch anybody in this town because that type of intimidation will not work here.”

Kwame A Plus is not the first political personality to take exception to the content of the video.

Member of Parliament of North Tongu, in a post also expressed concerns over the seeming intimidation of residents in the area as captured in the video.

Meanwhile, government over the past weeks has justified the presence of military personnel in some regions, taking guard over the EC’s registration process.

As a matter of fact, Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul during a press conference on June 29, 2020 said the military were not deployed to those areas to intimidate residents but to enforce the border closure.