EC Responsible For The Confusion In Banda – “CARE” GHANA

The Electoral Commission (EC) should be held accountable for the
intimidation characterizing the ongoing registration exercise in the
Banda constituency.

The EC’s inability to create a registration center and its refusal to dispatch mobile registration kits to the communities along the lake in Banda accounts for the confusion we are experiencing in the area.

The Electoral Commission is mandated to create easy access for all eligible Ghanaian voters to register and participate in all public elections hence the need to provide polling centers in every community with the population of at least 800.

It is very surprising
that, even though the population in the communities along the lake in Banda in the Bono Region is over 23,407, the EC has not
considered it relevant to provide a registration center in that community.

Owing to this, members of these communities who are predominantly Ewes travel in buses and tracks to nearby communities to register.

According to Okogyeadie Nana Boankoadi a chief in Banda, these are Ewe fisher folks who settled in the area as far back 1919 even before his great grand parents were born.

Therefore, what prevents the EC from allocating registration centers in these communities to enable these Ghanaian citizens participate in the registration exercise and subsequently vote in
the upcoming general elections.

Failure by the EC to comply with its mandate to ensure that it provides an unfettered opportunity for every Ghanaian citizen willing to vote occasions the needless and unnecessary confusion in the Banda constituency.

We urge the EC to as a matter of urgency dispatch its mobile registration kits to the Ewe communities along the river bunks in the constituency to curb the mass movement of
people and promote a peaceful cohesion.

The unprovoked, needless and unwarranted action by the Ghana armed forces and the national security forces is not useful to the development of our fledging democracy.

To physically prevent any Ghanaian from exercising his or her constitutional right is an
attempt to undermine the 1992 constitution.

We condemn it in uncertain terms and demand an unqualified
apology to the Ewe communities in Banda in the Bono Region and
the entire country.

We therefore call on our security officers to rather protect the citizenry and not intimidate or threaten the lives of the people
whose taxes pay them.

The Electoral Commission is also advised to immediately allocate registration centers or dispatch its mobile registration kits to the area to enable these Ghanaian citizens
register and participate in the 7th December, 2020 general elections.

Thank you.
Sign
David Kumi Addo
Executive Secretary “CARE” GHANA
0273009907/ 0559026124