Some parents in villages in the Pru-East municipality say they are unable to afford the transportation cost for their wards to partake in the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.

Some of them cited their inability to provide transportation fare as the reason for their unwillingness to allow their children to take part in the registration exercise.

They said the transportation fare from their place of residence to their designated registration centres is costly.

“From Domeabra to the capital is over 40 miles. On market days, it costs ¢100 to travel to the capital and back. It costs more on ordinary days. If an applicant travels here, how is he going to feed himself? The risk involved is also huge,” one parent revealed.

Most of them said that it is risky crossing the lake, thus they were not ready to risk the lives of their wards.

One guardian told JoyNews, “The lake is flooded, and the risk involved in travelling here has increased due to the thunderstorm.”

At least 50 of the 99 polling stations in the Pru-East constituency are scattered along the Volta Lake, travelling to the District Capital, Yeji.

It's a perilous journey, mostly done in engine-powered fishing boats. Reports indicate that at least 15 lives have been lost to boat accidents in the recent rainy season.

The National Democratic Congress parliamentary candidate for the area, Emmanuel Kwaku Boam also accused the Electoral Commission of collaborating with the ruling New Patriotic Party to use the exercise to sabotage the upcoming elections. 

According to Mr Boam, the NPP is aware Pru-East is “one of the constituencies which is surely for the NDC,” therefore the limited voters’ registration is “some of the exercises they are doing to suppress our [NDC] votes.”

However, Mr Boam stated the NDC is pulling resources to help subsidise the cost of travel for applicants.

Background

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) began a limited voter registration on Tuesday, September 12.

The exercise to enable the EC to register new voters onto the electoral roll ahead of the December 19, District Level Elections. 

It is a 21-day exercise that will give the opportunity for Ghanaians who have attained the voting age of 18 years since the last registration in 2020 and others who are more than 18 years old but could not register during the last registration exercise, to do so. 

The Exercise, which is in accordance with Article 45 of the 1992 Constitution, will take place at the 268 District Offices of the Commission – unlike the previous system, where limited registration exercises were conducted in the districts.

After Parliament rejected the EC's draft Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) in April, the EC said it would adopt the existing Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2016 (C.I. 91) (1) as amended for the upcoming registration process.