The National Democratic Congress’ Parliamentary Candidate for the Hohoe constituency in the Volta region, Prof. Margaret Kwaku has warned persons outside the constituency to resist the temptation of being bused to come and register in the constituency in the ongoing Voter registration exercise.
The registration exercise which has entered the fifth phase has been characterized with counter-allegations from the two major political parties over the busing of non-residents and intimation of registrants leading to some form of violence at some centers in the Volta region.
Addressing the media in Hohoe on Tuesday, Prof. Kwaku denied any wrongdoing on the part of the NDC.
She said, “It is rather other people who are busing people from Accra, Ho, Afadjato South and the adjoining communities like Jasikan, Kpando to come and register; they come in coastal buses and VIP buses, some are brought with motorbikes and that is what we as NDC in Hohoe have resisted that it should not happen. If you know you are on the ground and the people like you and they want you to lead them, you don’t bring people from outside to vote for you.”
She cautioned that, “Let the people within the constituency decide who should lead them; so my advice for the people who are coming from outside, I understand they have been paid to come and register and vote for whoever is sponsoring them. It’s better they put a stop to it, they should better go and register at where they reside to vote for their own candidate. They can not come and decide for the people of Hohoe.”
Prof. Kwaku, however noted that despite the misunderstandings, the registration exercise has been fairly calm and peaceful while adding that, “So far, we have registered over 45,000 people in the constituency and we hope we would exceed the total population in the former register by the end of the registration.”
Prof. Margaret Kwaku who is a lecturer at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) is seeking her first term in Parliament in a seemingly two-horse race with the NPP’s John Peter Amewu, the current Energy Minister.
Both candidates served as Municipal Chief Executives for the Hohoe Municipality under their respective party’s administration.
As the Voter’s registration exercise enters its two final phases both the NDC and the NPP are hell burnt on ensuring that as many people as possible get to register in their respective strongholds.