EC Officials Bloat Figures At Ejura

ATTEMPTS by the Electoral Commission (EC) to inflate the ongoing registration figures in the Ejura-Sekyedumase constituency in the Ashanti Region have been exposed.

For unknown reasons, the figures in the first six days of the registration exercise in 25 out of the 27 registration centers in the constituency were manipulated by the district office of the EC.

The figures that the district electoral officer sent to the headquarters in Accra were different from those that were certified at the centers by the agents of the various political parties.

In all the 25 registration centers where the anomalies were recorded, the figures the district electoral officer sent to the headquarters were higher than those the agents certified.

Some of the registration centers that recorded an abnormal increment in the figures included Dromakuma L/A Primary School, Asuogya Temporal booth and Kasei L/A Primary School.

For example, during the first three days of the exercise at the Dromakuma L/A Primary School registration center, a total of 298 were certified but the figure the electoral officer sent to the headquarters was 610.

During the same time frame at the Asuogya provisional booth registration center, a total number of 126 registrants were recorded but the figure the electoral officer forwarded to the headquarters was 220.

On the second day at the same registration center, a total number of 57 registrants were recorded but the figure the electoral officer sent to the headquarters was 137.

In addition, a total number of 245 registrants were recorded in the first three days of the exercise at the Kasei L/A Primary School but the electoral officer forwarded a figure of 399 to the headquarters.

Also, in the second three days of the exercise in the same center, the number of registrants recorded was 369 but the final figure the electoral officer sent to the headquarters was a whooping 706.

The discrepancies were brought to light by some registration officers who were not enthused about the inflation of the figures in almost all the registration centers in the constituency.

When the district electoral officer, Anthony Egegol, was contacted on phone, he admitted to the occurrence of the discrepancies in the figures but attributed it to technical challenges.

He said there was no cause for alarm because the development had been rectified, stressing that the development was not deliberate but purely technical.

Members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the constituency, led by the party’s parliamentary candidate, have pointed accusing figures at the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the development.

Salifu Bamba, the NPP candidate, said the development could not be accidental because it was perpetrated massively in areas where the ruling party had been recording high votes in elections.

The Ejura-Sekyedumase constituency, which is full of settler farmers of northern descent, has been a stronghold of the NDC since 1992.

The NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mohammed Pangabu, has however denied knowledge of the development, stressing that the party was innocent.

From Morgan Owusu, Kumasi