Kumasi, March 16, GNA- The voters' registration exercise took off smoothly on Tuesday in Kumasi.

Among the early people to register were the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei TuUu II and Nana Afua Serwaah Kobi Ampem, Asantehemaa, who registered at the Manhyia registration centre.

Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, toured the registration centres to ensure that the exercise took off smoothly and ended up registering at the Central International School centre.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited some of the centres and found that there were adequate registration materials at the disposal of the officials for the exercise.

At the Roman Catholic primary and Junior Secondary School registration centres at Ayeduase, eligible voters turned out very early to register.

Mr. Samuel Yorke-Aidoo, the Ashanti Regional Electoral Officer told the GNA that the exercise started well in the metropolis except at two registration centres where the registration officers failed to turn up.

He could not assign reasons for the failure of those officials. On security arrangements, he said, the Ashanti regional police command had put in place a mobile security team that was making the rounds at various centres.

This apart, "the police command also had a stand-by rapid response security team in place in respect of the exercise". The total number of registration centres in the Kumasi metropolitan area stands at 800.