Revision Of Voters' Register Begins

Accra, (Greater Accra) 31 Oct.,

The revision of the voters' register began today with a low patronage with Electoral Commission (EC) officials saying they do not expect large turnouts yet. " We are not expecting more than 25,000 people to register. One registration a day would not be a surprise." Mr. David Kanga, Deputy Chairman, EC, told GRi by telephone. Only Ghanaian citizens who are 18 years of age or older who do not already have their names in the national voters' register will be registered. All centres visited by GRi were peaceful and without queues. Registration assistants were seen watching over their logistics. At the Globe cinema centre at Adabraka, no one had registered as at 1400 hours. At one registration centre, GRi was told that certain persons had wanted to register but since they could not prove their identity, they were turned away. " We have a questionnaire which people are to complete before we register them. One has to prove one's identity with an identification card or a baptismal certificate." Issac Soloman, a registration assistant, said. The Adabraka official town centre seemed lucky for registering one person. Others looked deserted. According to Mr. Kanga, 5,000 centres have been set up throughout the country with three officers manning each station. " There are at least one centre in every electoral area. We were compelled to establish more than one centre in certain places due to the vastness and other social and demographic problems." He said monitoring the centres would soon begin to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the centres. Mr. Kanga warned persons who have no business to do around ''these centres to stay away to avoid trouble''.