Regional News of Tuesday, 16 March 2004

Source: GNA

Use 'gong-gong' to educate public on registration exercise

Ho, Mar 16, GNA- Togbe Adzie Lakle Howusu XII, Awafiaga of Ho Asogli State, on Tuesday appealed to traditional leaders to remind their subjects by beating gong-gong to educate the people to register. He said this would help the Electoral Commission (EC) to achieve its goals in the voters' registration exercise.

Togbe Howusu who was among the first-seven people to register at the Jubilee Church Registration Centre at Ho-Dome, was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview when the exercise began on Tuesday morning.

He called on all prospective voters to take part in the registration exercise.

Togbe Howusu said "the highest form of disservice a citizen of the country could undertake was to disenfranchise himself or herself from this exercise".

When the GNA visited nine registration centres in Ho, some had registered only nine people while others had recorded 67 votes as the highest in some centres.

It was also observed that party agents from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were the only parties represented at the centres. Photographs of registered voters would be taken from June, 18 to 23 this year, to complete the registration process in the Volta region.

However, Mr Mohammed Addoquaye, Volta Regional Director of the Electoral Commission explained that the period indicated on registration slips for taking the photographs was not fixed and that public announcements would be made.

He emphasised that no registration would be carried after the two weeks period and that only photographs would be taken after the main exercise had ended.