Photo-taking exercise runs into problems

Kumasi, April 28, GNA - The on-going voters photo-taking exercise is reported to have run into problems in some areas in the Ahafo-Ano North and South constituencies in the Ashanti region.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has therefore been asked to act quickly to resolve those problems so as to prevent the situation, where some registered voters would for no fault of theirs, be disenfranchised. Mr Emmanuel Nti-Fordjour, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Ashanti Regional Chairman, told the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi that, a monitoring team of his party during its rounds in the two constituencies found that there had for example not being any photo-taking at all of voters at Sabronum and Nyameadom in the Ahafo-Ano South since the exercise commenced in the region on April 24.

In areas like Baniekrom, Nyinanufu, Wioso and Hwibaa, the cameras sent there had run out of films by 1200 on Tuesday. He said in the case of the Ahafo-Ano North constituency, the EC's photographers operated at Kyekyewere, Odikro-Nkwanta and Jacobu communities for just a day.

"Many of the registered voters our team talked to said they have not had their pictures taken and their fear is that they would not have them before the expiry of the deadline".

Mr Nti-Fordjour said "it would be most unfair and great injustice if this should happen".

When contacted, a deputy Regional Electoral Officer, Mr Lawrence Sarpong, said they were going to check with the district officer to know what could have gone wrong.

He said the truth of the matter was that, some polling centres, because of the small number of voters registered, had been paired for the exercise to be carried out at one centre.

Even here, since not all voters could be expected to converge there at a go, to have their pictures taken, arrangements had been made to enable all qualified people to have their photographs.