Calls for publicity on voters registration exercise

Accra, May 5, GNA - Mr Augustine Ntiamoah, District Electoral Officer for the Odododiodio Constituency, on Friday called for intensification of public education on the revision of the voters registration exercise.

He attributed the low turnout on the first day of the exercise to inadequate publicity given to the 10-day exercise, and called on the Electoral Commission, Political Parties and stakeholders to collaborate and whip up enthusiasm in the exercise.

Mr Ntiamoah told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra that although the Commission had provided the necessary logistics for the commencement of the exercise, only a handful of people had turned up to register at the nine registration centres opened for the exercise within the constituency as at 1100 hours.

"We opened all the polling stations for the registration exercise, and looking at the turn out so far, the publicity for the exercise must be intensified in the coming days to make it a success" he said. Mr Ntiamoah said an additional factor for the low turn out could be the inconveniences likely to be encountered by people, who had to travel long distances to the newly-designated registration centres to register, saying that the trend could remain for several days, especially in districts where the population was sparsely distributed.

The two registration centres in the Ngleshie Electoral Area of the Odododiodio constituency had registered a total of 26 voters when the Electoral Area of the constituency, 12 people had registered as at 1225 hours.

Ms Ethel Botchway, the Registration Officer in charge of the Opera Cinema Registration Centre in the Kinka Electoral Area of the Odododiodio Constituency, told the GNA news team that as at 1300 hours, only seven people had registered.

"In previous registration exercises, people rushed in to register during the first three days of the opening of the voters register, but this time it is very different", she noted.

She said some of the candidates contesting forthcoming elections had, however, been cited moving from house to house within the Odododiodio Constituency to encourage prospective voters to register. Some of the centres in the Odododiodio Constituency also lacked logistics such as tables, chairs, umbrellas to provide shade from the scorching sun and additional forms to be completed by persons who are 20 years and above, who wanted to register.