Politics of Thursday, 1 June 2006

Source: GNA

Upper West Director of EC advises political parties

Wa, June 1, GNA - Mr Yahaya Mahama, Upper West Regional Director of Electoral Commission, on Thursday appealed to the leadership of various political parties to crosscheck their facts before publicizing them. "The use of falsehood and other unfounded methods to score political points will not only mar your political future, but could also escalate into serious political chaos as a lot of people are now very conscious of their rights and responsibilities," he added.

Mr Mahama who was reacting to media reports that some people in the Upper West Region could not register in the just ended registration exercise, told the Ghana News Agency in Wa that those allegations were not only "total lies and falsehood", but also very misleading and could destabilize the otherwise peaceful region.

Few days ago, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) issued a statement to the media alleging that a lot of people in parts of the Region were not captured during the just ended registration exercise due to shortage of forms.

It stated that as a result, the regional Electoral offices could not meet their target.

In the interview with the GNA, Mr Mahama challenged Mr Kale Caesar, Regional Secretary of the NDC, who signed the statement, to provide evidence that people in parts of the region were denied the chance to register.

Mr Mahama said his outfit registered a total 15,588 people, saying the figure exceeded the projected target of 9,999 people. He said Mr Kale had neither reported any problem to him, nor copied him with the statement, which he described as "mischievous" and misleading.

The Regional EC Director said his outfit returned a lot of unused registration forms to Accra and that about 96 percent of the people registered in the region had also taken their photographs. 01 June 06