Electoral Commission officers at Hohoe in the Volta Region, have been accused of deducting Ghc20 each from allowances of officers contracted for the recent exhibition of voters’ register exercise.
Citi News’ Volta Regional correspondent, Gratham Macintosh, who has been investigating the matter, reports that the officers have threatened to blacklist anyone who refuses to pay the Ghc20.
[contextly_sidebar id=”lM2issXmdYKCOZ3qKZvxpCkmS18kt06a”]Over 400 people were hired by the Electoral Commission for its exhibition exercise in Hohoe. Exhibition officers are paid GHC600, while verification officers take home GHC550.
An officer who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity confirmed the deductions.
“We were invited to come for our money for the exhibition of the voters’ register. When we got here, we were asked to pay 20 cedis which is illegal. Personally I refused to pay and for that matter they said my name will be deleted. Next time, I won’t be invited, and people paid”, he said.
He added that, those who paid had 20 cedis written against their names. “So I asked the man why we are paying 20 cedis…he just cancelled the 20 cedis written against my name and asked me to go and I left with my money…as you can see, this is my money, 550 cedis. I didn’t pay a dime”.
Citi News’ effort to speak with the Electoral Commission’s Hohoe District officers was fruitless as they refused to grant any interviews.
Tamale EC officers threaten to boycott exhibition over allowance
Electoral Commission recruits in Tamale in July threatened to boycott the provisional voters’ register exhibition exercise if their allowances were not adjusted upwards.
They declared their stance in protest against the GHc30 given to them as allowances after undergoing a three-day intensive capacity building workshop ahead of the exercise.
–
By: Eugenia Tenkorang/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @eugeniatenkoran