Takoradi, Feb. 17, GNA - Mr. Harry Falconer, a 66-year-old retired educationist, has expressed his intention to contest the Takoradi constituency parliamentary seat as an independent candidate in the forthcoming general elections.

Mr. Falconer, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Takoradi on Monday, said he hoped to use his vast experience in education to improve the falling standards of education within the constituency if elected.

He called on Ghanaians to take active interest in the registration and voting exercises, adding that, any form of apathy would deprive them of their voting rights.

Mr. Falconer reminded eligible voters that "whether you vote or not, a government would be elected and it would be better to perform this civic responsibility than to sit unconcerned."

He urged them not to entrust the country's future into the hands of a few individuals adding that "your vote counts."

Mr. Falconer assured the electorate that if voted into parliament, he would transform the present Takoradi constituency into a commercially vibrant area.

He urged the Electoral Commission (EC) and the security agencies to ensure that aliens did not register when the new register was being compiled.

Mr. Falconer said any alien caught flouting any of the country's electoral rules, should be prosecuted, while registration officers who connive with under aged children, aliens and other unqualified voters to register, should be punished.