Politics of Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Source: 3news.com

Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang truncates campaign, joins Mahama to tackle EC

NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama with his running mate, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama with his running mate, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang

Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has suspended her campaign tour of the Central Region, effective Tuesday, September 22, her spokesperson has said.

This is to enable her join her flagbearer who has also suspended his campaign of the Bono Region to address anomalies in the ongoing voter exhibition exercise being carried out by the Electoral Commission, Mawuena Trebah said.

“The Running Mate will suspend her campaign tour of in Central Region. There are a number of issues for that. However, it is a National decision taken in consultation with the Flagbearer who has also suspended his campaign activities for today. Details will be given tomorrow,” Ms Trebah said.

Mr Mahama in announcing his decision to suspend the campaign cited the growing complaints by members of the NDC of their names missing from the new voter register.

The former president was in the Bono Region at the start of a four-day campaign tour, having ended his tour of the Bono East Region over the weekend.

But reports are rife that names of members of the NDC are missing from the electoral roll which is undergoing exhibition across the country.

The exhibition began on Friday, September 18 and it is expected to end on Friday, September 25.

But just a day into the exercise, the NDC Member of Parliament for Ashaiman Constituency, Ernest Henry Norgbey, accused the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) of exclusion of over 21,000 names from the register in his constituency.

He said even his name was missing from the register.

The EC, however, debunked this and emphasised that the lawmaker’s name was captured in the register and said the figure by the MP is being exaggerated.

Mr Norgbey, who recently demanded information from the EC based on the Right To Information Act, asked the EC to provide the register for him to prove that names of his supporters are missing from the register.

“At the close of the registration, all the political parties were very much aware, including the Electoral Commission in Ashaiman, that we have registered over 167,000 people so where are those 7,000 people,” he said on TV3‘s Midday Live on Sunday, September 20.

“Where are we going to get them. In any case, how did the [EC] manage to get the 14,000 people back on the register.”