The Savannah Regional branch of the National Democratic Congress has accused the Electoral Commission of trying to disenfranchise residents.

They say the Commission is deliberately dispatching new registration machines into the Savannah region that are slower than those that were used in previous exercises. 

Addressing the press in Damongo, the Savannah Regional Communication officer of NDC, Malik Basintale, said the party did not understand why many of the registration centres the party visited in the region recorded setbacks such as lack of basic logistics, overheating of machines and late arrival of personnel, among others.

“A polling station like Guo in the Daboya-Mankarigu constituency suffered a lot of setbacks while registering yesterday. In the end, less than 40 people got registered instead of the usual 100 and above,” he said.

Mr Basintale said the situation cut across the Savannah Region adding that Yapei and Alipe registration centres in the Yapei-Kusawgu constituency also recorded low figures of 87 and 83.  

"The technicians who have been using the machines are still the same workers. Yet while they used to register about 160 and beyond, due to the new machines brought, the numbers keep reducing every day due to the extra slow speed of the machine.”

“All electoral commission officials across the centres in Bole-Bamboi constituency claimed they had no paper to do end of day printout for agents”, he added.

On the issue of discrimination, Mr Basintale recounted what he described as an ugly scene at Butei around Yapei where he alleged that members of  the New Patriotic Party were preventing residents of the Fulani's extraction from registering.

“We are very much surprised that members of the NPP will partake in such an illegal tribalistic discrimination when when they have Samira Bawumia, the wife of the vice president being a Fulani who votes here in Ghana”,  Mr Basintale lamented.

Mr Basintale later called on supporters of NPP to stop the unwarranted brutalities and attacks  against the NDC as the party is ready to counter such attacks in the future.

But in a sharp rebuttal to the NDC, the West Gonja Municipal Communication Officer of NPP, Iddrisu Lemuna said allegations the NDC levelled at his parliamentary Candidate, Samuel Abu Jinapor would not fly adding that “he who seeks equity, must come with clean hands”.