‘I have not bused strangers to my constituency’ - Builsa South DCE

Builsa South District Chief Executive, Daniel Kwame Gariba, has denied claims that he is engaged in transporting strangers and foreigners to the area to register for the voters’ Identification card.

Mr. Gariba says the claim by his political opponents, which is meant to dent his image and discredit his hard work and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, is palpable falsehood and should be thrown to the dogs.

"My attention has been drawn to a malicious and baseless propaganda making rounds on social media that the DCE of the Builsa south district assembly bused strangers and foreigners to register in the Builsa South constituency. The above allegation is a deliberate effort by the camp of the current MP to discredit me and gain sympathy vote in the upcoming general elections. The allegation is palpable falsehood and must be treated with the contempt it deserves. I wish to state without any shred of equivocation that the allegation by the NDC against me is completely duplicitous, factually inaccurate and dubious at best”.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Builsa South constituency recently leveled the allegation against the DCE who doubles as the NPP Parliamentary candidate, claiming he admitted busing ‘strangers’ to the area for the voter exercise despite it being illegal.

In their claim, the NDC said Mr. Gariba and the NPP bused the foreigners from Kumasi in the Ashanti Region and other places to better their chances in the December 2020 polls in the constituency. The NDC further said it was an agenda to ensure the defeat of minority MP for the area, Dr. Clement Apaak.

But in a swift reaction, the DCE has shot down the claim, explaining the people are natives living in other parts of the Builsa area and country returning home to get registered.

He explained: “The said strangers and foreigners as described by the NDC are teachers who teach in various schools within the jurisdiction of the Builsa south constituency and following the closure of schools as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, they relocated to their hometowns. With the start of the new register and per the laws of the EC, they have decided to come back to the constituency and register”.

“The laws governing the registration are clear; anybody who is not a Ghanaian is not permitted to register and applicants who are not residents of a particular constituency or electoral area are not allowed to register. This means that a person provided he or she is a Ghanaian, even if he or she is not a native of a particular constituency but resides in that locality is not forbidden from registering”.

Mr. Gariba chided the NDC for failing to read the rules and regulations governing the Electoral Commission’s voter registration exercise.

While reminding the NDC of masterminding an illicit transfer of over 3500 voters to the constituency in 2016, Mr. Gariba challenged the MP for the area to fulfil his “pie in the sky” promises to the people and desist from “the incessant look for propaganda as solace to redeem themselves from the defeats that awaits them”.

Mr. Gariba reiterated his firmness in finding lasting solutions to the developmental challenges of the constituency to ameliorate the difficulties of the people. He urged the people of the Builsa South area to continuously have faith in him and the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.