Let the youth register for change - Awuku warns

National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammi Awuku has expressed deep dissatisfaction at the number of registration equipment sited in secondary and tertiary institutions in the Country, where the majority of first time voters will be expected to register to vote in the November 7th general elections.

Addressing a Press Conference at the Party’s Headquarters in Asylum Down, Accra, the Party’s National Youth Organiser said the number of registration equipment that had been placed at the various secondary and tertiary institutions will not be adequate to register the huge potential voters in these areas, going by the very limited period for registration.

According to Sammi Awuku, though the University of Ghana, for instance, has between Fourteen thousand and Sixteen thousand new potential voters who need to register, the Electoral Commission provided only one set of registration equipment to cater for that population. Similarly, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, which has an estimated ten thousand new voter population, only one set of registration equipment has been provided, and even that has been sited outside the University campus.

He stated, that “Going by the fact that the Electoral Commission estimates that between forty-two (42) and forty-five (45) people can be registered a day, it is safe to say that by the end of the ten-day limited voter registration exercise, majority of the youth in our various educational institutions will be disenfranchised because the EC refused to provide adequate registration equipment to cater for all”.

The NPP Youth Organiser also commented on various acts by senior members of the NDC, and government officials, to prevent students from registering. Citing the Abetifi Presby SHS as an example, he said, because the NDC was aware that the disgruntled youth of the country will reject their government in the up-coming elections, their members have been seeking to prevent SHS students who have turned 18years from taking part in the registration exercise.

He expressed worry at these acts on the part of the Electoral Commission and the NDC, which he said would lead to many of our young ones being denied the opportunity to register and vote for change, come November 7th, 2016.

He warned that the political wind of change blowing over the youth of Ghana is inevitable; stating, that any action by the Electoral Commission or the NDC to corrupt the true reflection of the choice of the youth in the November 7th elections could cause serious national security implications for the country.

The NPP Youth Organiser called on Madam Charlotte Osei and the Electoral Commission to take urgent steps to ensure that students in secondary and tertiary institutions who are qualified to register to vote in the November 7 elections have all the opportunity to do so.