Political parties who are alleged to be scheming to cause confusion during the upcoming limited registration exercise by the Electoral Commission,(E.C) in the Ashanti Region have been cautioned to revise their notes since any of them who attempt to do so would be arrested and put behind bars.
Furthermore, persons who will be bused from schools, colleges or universities to ostensibly visit their preferred registration centers would be screened before being allowed to register if the Police find something unusual about the move.
CAUTION:
In a fiery tone at the Police Headquarters when he addressed a meeting between security heads, electoral officers, the media and the various political parties, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Nathan Kofi Boakye cautioned that any one found to be fomenting or causing confusion at any registration centre would be arrested and put behind bars until the exercise is completed.
According to him, every regulation governing the upcoming limited registration lay bare before the political parties and other allied bodies.
He, therefore, charged them to abide by the laws and regulations governing the conduct of the exercise so as to make it a smooth process.
PROCESSES:
He noted that adequate challenge or complaint forms would be made available by the E.C at each of the registration centers so as to facilitate the documentation of the issues any party officer may find about a prospective first time registrant.
”Nobody has a right to physically restrain or prevent anybody from registering in the upcoming limited registration exercise”, DCOP Boakye vehemently cautioned.
He stressed, ‘any party official or party head found to be causing confusion or physically preventing people from registering at the designated centers would be quickly arrested and detained until the exercise is completed’.
NPP:
But, speaking to the Ghanaian Observer Newspaper after the forum, Sam Pyne, Ashanti Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party,(NPP) disclosed no law mandates any security official to restrain persons from being bused or allowed to register because they came in a bus to the registration center.
However, he stressed the party’s resolve to abide by the regulations governing the conduct of the limited registration exercise.
NDC:
On his part, Kwame Zu, Deputy Ashanti Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress,(NDC) called on the Police to ensure no party person go unpunished for physically stopping people they deem are not their favorites from registering.
He also expressed the readiness of the NDC to participate fully in the upcoming exercise and pledged to police the process with all legitimate means.
