Head of Public Affairs at the Electoral Commission, Mr Christian Owusu Pare, has warned that it is illegal for anyone to physically prevent others from taking part in the ongoing biometric registration exercise. Pockets of violence have been recorded since the exercise began on Saturday. One person was hacked with a machete Sunday in the Brong Ahafo region while a 12-year-old boy sustained gunshot wounds at the Foase Kokoben Electoral area in Kumasi when an agent of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in an attempt to control some commotion at a polling centre in the Bekwai Constituency, pulled a gun apparently intending to fire a warning shot but injured the boy in the process. The EC official, speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Monday, said there was no need for anybody to physically challenge the eligibility of a person and prevent him from registering. According to him, an eligible voter should be Ghanaian, 18-years and above, a resident in the electoral area and be of sound mind. He explained further that if someone has reason to challenge the eligibility of another, that person must simply file a challenge form which would be counter-signed by a registration officer at the registration centre, following which the person whose eligibility is under question and his challenger will appear before a district review committee. Mr Owusu Pare said the person being challenged would then be required to prove his eligibility before the committee. He insisted that Ghanaians must follow this procedure and desist from physically stopping others from registering; cautioning that anyone caught in this act would be seriously dealt with by law. “If for any reason somebody believes…or knows somebody to be ineligible to register…,” he said, “you cannot physically restrain the person from going through the process …you are not allowed by law to physically stop someone from registering.” The EC official also assured that all Ghanaians will be registered before the end of the exercise. “…Let me commend Ghanaians for the enthusiasm they have shown in this biometric registration. It looks like there is some heightened interest in the exercise and people want to go to the registration centres and get their registrations through from the very early days of this exercise.” On reports of faulty equipment at some registration centres, Mr Owusu Pare said some stand-by equipment has been provided for quick dispatch to replace malfunctioning ones. He added that the EC will call for the deployment of police personnel if they detect worrying signals as far as security was concerned.