Oqauye Jnr charges Dome-Kwabenya constituents to support voters registration exercise

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA), Ambassador Mike Oquaye Jr., has urged persons aged 18 and above to leverage the Electoral Commission’s limited voter registration exercise to acquire their voter identification card.

Admonishing the new registrants to take the chance of the exercise on Wednesday, the 2020 former parliamentary primaries aspirant of the Dome-Kwabenya constituency entreated the individuals who had issues with their voters’ identification card to visit the registration centre on the allocated date to address their challenges on the card to enable them to vote in the upcoming local assembly election and the 2024 general election.

“I urge everyone who is eligible and those who have not yet registered for their voter's ID card to promptly do so at the Electoral Commission district office in Kwabenya,” he said.

Amb. Oquaye Jr. explained that the voter registration exercise by the electoral commission was necessary to give the young people who attained the age of 18 and above the opportunity to register to participate in the electoral activities and exercise their franchise during the election.

That, he said, was a constitutional mandate, and he commended the residents for the show of support for the ongoing limited voter's registration exercise at the registration centre in the constituency.

Amb. Oquaye Jr. underscored the need for the exercise, emphasizing that it should be taken seriously, hence “the success of our party (NPP) in breaking the 8-year cycle largely hinges on the active participation and encouragement of all eligible constituents without a voter's ID to register.”

Donation

Amb. Oquaye Jr. also made a donation of about GHS 20,000 to the leadership of the governing NPP in Dome-Kwabemya constituency to help facilitate the movement of the individual to the registration center in the area and appealed to all polling station executives and NPP sympathizers within Dome Kwabenya to rally behind the cause to fast track the victory of the party.

According to him, the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency continues to be the largest in the Greater Accra region and the country at large, hence dear to the government to support the youth in the area.

The donation was received by Constituency Chairman, Osei Bonsu, on behalf of the Central Executive Committee (CEC), and witnessed by Derek Baapogma, Constituency Youth Organiser.

The NPP Dome-Kwabenya constituency charman, Osei Bonsu, after receiving the donation expressed heartfelt gratitude to Amb Oquaye Jnr. for his significant and sole contribution towards the limited voter registration exercise in the constituency.

Registration

The EC announced on Tuesday that the commencement of the 2023 voter registration exercise begins and is expected to end on Monday, October 2. Adding that the Registration takes place at all the 268 District Offices of the commission across the country.

It encouraged persons who have attained the age of 18 years since the last registration exercise and those who, for one reason or another, did not register in 2020 to visit the District Office where they reside with either their Ghana Card or their Ghana Passport.

The commission went on to state that eligible applicants who do not possess any of the identification documents listed above are required to present two people who are already registered voters to guarantee their registration.

It, however, cautioned that it was a criminal offense for non-Ghanaians and persons who are not 18 years of age or older to attempt to register; hence, offenders and their guarantors will be liable for prosecution. Insisting that the guarantors who guarantee above the legally accepted ten persons would also be arrested and prosecuted to face the full rigors of the law.