The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkwanta South in the Oti region, Geoffrey Kini says the Electoral Commission (EC) has failed terribly in its ongoing voters registration exercise.

He fears the exercise may end with many potential registrants not being registered as a result of the long queues at registration centres engendered by the plan to conduct registration from centralised locations.

According to the MP, the conduct of this exercise is unlike any in the past where registration was taken to the doorsteps of registrants, virtually.

The centralised nature of the exercise has meant that many candidates for registration have had to be bussed from distant locations to join long queues, and at the end of the day, many have to return home unable to register.

What is worse, many cannot afford the transportation to and from the registration centres, while the EC has made no such provision to aid registrants bear the cost.

Kini wondered why the EC decided to deploy in centralised locations when its budget has been approved to enable the Commission do a good job.

Geoffrey Kini who made the comments during a visit to the registration centre at Nkwanta South, alleged that the EC has intentionally created difficulties and obstacles for people who want to register as voters by setting up one registration centre in the entire constituency.

According to him, there have numerous complaints and frustration from constituents about the registration process.

The MP wondered if the EC was perpetuating the difficulties in only the strongholds of the opposition National Democratic Congress to favour the New Patriotic Party.

Speaking to Adom News’ Obrempongba K. Owusu in Twi, MP Kini said;

This registration exercise is different from previous ones. Given our maturity and experience in these exercises, we should be making better progress than we are showing. If you see the exercise going on now, many people cannot be registered. In the past, we took the exercise to the doorsteps of everyone just so everybody can register their names. Today, it is at the EC office, plus a mobile centre that spends two days per location and move on. What is going on at Nkwanta South is terrible. By the end of this exercise, a good number of our children cannot register. To think that we have no centre at Broniase, and we also have to bring people from Abuburuwa, Obanda to this place to register, we are also bringing people from Kpasa Jubo, Bonatse, Bonatse Asuogya to come and register. Look at Kwei, Jatokura, Keri, …. Who is bearing that cost? I ask the EC, are they working for profit or serving the government? Did they bring a budget to parliament that was not approved hence a resort to this plot to disenfranchise many? The EC has failed terribly in advance with this registration exercise.”