<<Print>>

As the debate over whether the Electoral Commission (EC) should scrap the current voters’ register and compile a new one wages on, President Mahama has cautioned the groups responsible for championing the course to dress down their violent ways.

As Ghana prepares for the 2016 elections, members of the Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA) and its surrogates, have been vociferous championing demonstrations to get the EC compile a new register.

Their approach to the issue has taken President Mahama aback and he expects them to come up with one devoid of violence.

“You decide to become violent because you want what you want to be – it is a democracy and you are not living by the rules. Let’s leave to the EC because that is their job”, he said.

He made this known in an interview with GBC's Garden City Radio which was also carried live on Okay FM.

The current voters’ register in his view is relatively young and has only been used for one election.

“Our register is relatively young. The issue about the electoral register is a matter for the Electoral Commission.
They have even asked people to forward their concern about the register to them. We must leave them to work on the matter and they have even assured all political parties that they would call us on the 30th to state our case”, he said.

According to President Mahama, for leaders of the group to embark on protest marches and create the impression as if Ghana would turn upside down without a new register is something he finds hard to come to terms with.

Prior to the president’s speech, some members of LMVCA, Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) and Movement for Change (MFC) who participated in a planned picketing at the premises of the Electoral Commission (EC) calling for a new voters register, were literally whipped into line whiles scores of them were arrested when they allegedly attempted to deviate from prior approved routes.

The police, clad in full riot gear resorted to brute force by using horse whips, batons as well firing tear gas canisters and water cannons on the demonstrators for allegedly using unapproved routes in their march.