Only 14,801 persons of the 56,000 whose names, were deleted from the voters’ register, have re-registered in the ongoing voters’ register exhibition exercise, the Electoral Commission (EC) has said.
With the deadline for the end of the re-registration two days away, the Head of Communications at the EC, Eric Dzakpasu, has expressed fears most people will be disenfranchised if the situation does not improve.
[contextly_sidebar id=”IdOzqfHhzDJA3kZiMDjZsvwtWgoJsj67″]“As at the close of work yesterday [Monday], out of the 56,762 names deleted, 14,801 have re-registered,” Mr. Dzakpasu revealed.
He lamented that, “the people are not coming. We are expecting them to come in their numbers so that we can get most of them registered so that they can vote, but they are not coming as we expect them to come.”
Despite the concerns, Mr. Dzakpasu indicated that, the EC was doing what it could as according to him, “the least we can do under these circumstances, is to reach out to them, intensify the publicity and help them know that the exercise is ongoing so they come back and re-register.”
“Our publicity vans are all over, NCCE is on the ground, we have involved the churches and the community leaders and traditional leaders. In some areas, we have even deployed the ‘gong gong beaters’ to announce to the community so they can come out and take part in the re-registration,” he stated.
EC urges media to support sensitisation
The Chairperson for the Commission, Charlotte Osei has admonished the media to support its work by educating the electorate on their role during elections.
Speaking at the launch of a code of conduct for media practitioners launched by the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), she highlighted the importance of the role the media played in the education of the electorate.
“We all know that, delivering a credible electoral outcome is not only the responsibility of the Electoral Commission. It is indeed the collective responsibility of all Ghanaians, especially the media.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana