Some residents of Fijai in the Essikado-Ketan Constituency of the Western Region have been complaining about shortage of registration materials at some of the centres regarding the on-going limited voter registration exercise, leaving would-be registrants stranded.
One of the disappointed residents told DAILY GUIDE that some of the items affected by the shortage included lamination materials and guarantee forms.
According to him, students from Arch Bishop Porter Girls’ Senior High School who came with intent to register went back to the campus because of the shortage whilst many people remained in queues for hours waiting for the arrival of more materials.
Some activists of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) claimed the situation was a deliberate ploy by the EC to deny many prospective voters the opportunity to register and vote in the party’s strongholds in the metropolis.
When DAILY GUIDE contacted the Western Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Stephen Opoku-Mensah, he debunked the claims and said it was rather at Adiembra near Sekondi where he heard there was shortage of materials.
He pointed out that his outfit quickly had to send the needed materials to the centres at Adiembra yesterday.
“In the Fijai area, I called the officers there and I was told the story was not true. But I will call again to find out,” the regional EC boss told DAILY GUIDE.
In a related development, activists of the NPP in the Wassa East Constituency of the region have also complained that some thugs, believed to be members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), had been preventing NPP agents from challenging people they believe are minors at the Plateau registration centre.
Kofi Boakye, a resident, told DAILY GUIDE that more than 20 people perceived to be minors, were registered without being challenged.
He claimed that some party agents who were trying to ensure that those minors were challenged were brutally assaulted by the supposed NDC thugs.
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