Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, August 4, at the commencement of the limited voter registration exercise, toured a few constituencies in the Greater Accra Region to monitor the exercise.
The UCOMS registration centre, at the Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfro constituency, was Akufo-Addo’s first point of call. There, he interacted with registration officials, polling agents of the New Patriotic Party and eligible voters, who were in the queue waiting for their turn to be registered. He was joined by Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, MP for Anyaa Sowutuom, who has oversight responsibility for the “orphan” Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfro constituency.
Akufo-Addo urged agents of the NPP at the polling station to remain vigilant and ensure that only eligible voters are registered, re-echoing sentiments made in Wa, when he announced the suspension of his campaign, that “winning 2016 starts from now, as a credible voters’ register is the key to fostering confidence in our electoral process”.
Nana Akufo-Addo’s next point of call was the Madina constituency, where he visited the Moral International registration centre, located within the premises of the Madina Divisional Police Headquarters.
Whilst observing the processes being undertaken by the registration officials, market women and NPP sympathisers, who learnt of Akufo-Addo’s presence, thronged the Police Station, filling it within a matter of seconds, with chants of “No Nana, No Vote” and “2016 is your time.”
The Dodowa Post Office registration centre and the Dodowa Newtown ICCES Centre, all in the Shai Osoduku constituency, were the registration centres toured by Nana Akufo-Addo in that constituency. Here again, a large crowd quickly assembled at the registration centre to encourage him ahead of the NPP’s presidential primary.
Akufo-Addo also toured the Adentan constituency, where he visited the Amrahia JHS registration centre. Polling agents and registration officials told Nana Akufo-Addo that a total of 39 new voters had so far been registered. The registration officials and NPP polling agents told him that the process had been smooth, with no hitches recorded. He met Rt. Rev. Asante-Antwi there, who was also monitoring the process. Another large crowd came to hail him.
The tour of Greater Accra ended with a visit to the Dunia Cinema registration centre, at Nima, in the Ayawaso North constituency, where he resides. Predictably, there was a great deal of excitement in the large crowd at his presence at the Cinema.
It was good to see that, in all the registration centres visited on the day, the Supreme Court’s ruling, which barred the use of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card from being used as one of the IDs for proving a voter’s identity and eligibility, was strictly being adhered to by registration officials, polling agents and voters alike.
Nana Akufo-Addo, in the coming days, will tour registration centres in the Central, Volta and Eastern regions as part of the monitoring exercise.
Accompanying him on Monday’s tour was Hon. Henry Quartey, MP for Ayawaso Central; Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson, former Mayor of Accra; Archibald Cobbina, Greater Accra NPP Regional Organiser; Joyce Zempare, Greater Accra NPP Regional Women’s Organiser; Alhaji Aminu Abu, Greater Accra NPP Regional Nasara Co-ordinator; Francis Asenso-Boakye, Political Assistant; and Eugene Arhin, Press Secretary.
Credit: Office of Nana Addo