By:A political desk Report
The 2024 National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary candidate for Pru East in the Bono East region, Emmanuel Kwaku Boam,has appealed to all eligible Ghanaians especially those in the area who have attained 18 years and above to take part in the ongoing Limited Registration Exercise.
He advised unregistered Ghanaians particularly NDC members not be discouraged by the challenges they had to go through before accessing District offices of EC to get their names in the register.
“I’m humbly appealing to all Ghanaians who have attained 18 years and above and those who couldn’t registered during the last registration Exercise to take advantage of the ongoing Limited Registration Exercise across the country to do so. This is the only way to make you a eligible voter to vote for NDC Presidential and Parliamentary candidates across the country come 2024 general elections”.
Emmanuel Kwaku Boam
Adding that all Ghanaians should do their purpose best to ensure that all eligible unregistered citizens register to enable vote out NPP’ Government which has brought untold hardship on them.
Mr.Emmanuel Kwaku Boam in an interview with The New Trust Newspaper also made s passionate appeal to leading members of NDC across the country and philanthropists to support those in the hinterlands with the means of transport and food to enable them partake in the exercise.
The Pru East NDC Parliamentary candidate’s appeal follows concerned raised by residents of the area over the District-based Registration Exercise by EC.
It would be recalled that residents of Domeabra, Batorkope, Gyatakpo, Accra Town, and other villages along the Volta Lake have raised serious concerned about the decision of the EC to do the registration exercise at the District offices instead of electoral areas.
They lamented about the cost involved in travelling from their villages to the district capital, Yeji. According to them,one needs to pay Fifty Ghana cedis (Ghc50) even on market days for a boat fare and non-market days ₵70.00 fare before they could access the District capital.
They argued that considering the costs it becomes financially burdensome for individuals, especially those without Ghana Cards to travel to the registration centers with their required two guarantors.
Another significant concern is the risk associated with travelling on the Volta Lake, which spans about 40 miles especially during the current rainy season.
The journey, according to the residents become dangerous due to possible boat accidents. The citizens highlighted that this year alone has recorded several unfortunate incidents claiming the lives of at least 15 individuals.
Considering these factors, among others, the citizens feel that the conditions surrounding the limited registration exercise are unfavourable and discouraging for their participation. They argued that if the EC does not conduct the exercise at the Electoral areas as previously done it would result in the disenfranchisement of many eligible voters.
They are still urging the Electoral Commission)EC) to reconsider its decision and deploy registration officers to their localities to make the process more accessible and convenient for eligible voters.