General News of Friday, 30 March 2012

Source: Daily Guide

NDC Plans Exposed

THE UNDERCOVER plan of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to disrupt the biometric registration exercise in the Ashanti Region, particularly in Kumasi, the regional capital, has been exposed.

The party, according to information reaching DAILY GUIDE, held a secret meeting at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) on Monday afternoon to discuss how they could roll out that plan.

Deep-throat sources, who pleaded anonymity, told DAILY GUIDE that the said meeting was allegedly attended by the regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyeman Mensah, the regional chairman, Yaw Obimpeh and some other leading members of the party.

The sources noted that persons at the meeting resolved to deploy unlicensed motorbikes and vehicles and hire macho-men to storm registration centers and cause confusion in order to disrupt the exercise.

This, the party gurus at the meeting believed, would go a long way to slow down the exercise and deny more people the opportunity to register, thereby disenfranchising them in the December polls.

The sources indicated that the ruling party had realized that if they succeeded in reducing the number of potential voters in the region, the votes of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would be reduced hugely. This would enable it to retain power in the forthcoming elections.

This is because the region is considered a stronghold of the NPP: The opposition party is currently occupying 36 out of the 39 constituencies in the region.

When DAILY GUIDE contacted the regional chairman for his reaction, Mr Obimpeh sounded furious and indicated that it was only a mad person who would believe the accusation.

“How can any right-thinking person conjecture that the ruling party will hold a secret meeting to discuss how to disrupt the registration exercise in the Ashanti Region,” Mr. Obimpeh asked.

He admitted that indeed they had a meeting at the said venue on Monday but did not discuss anything related to plans to disrupt the registration exercise in the region.

Noting that the meeting discussed how the party could take good care of its agents at the registration centers, the regional chairman wondered why the ruling party would think of disrupting the exercise in the Ashanti Region.

“How would you know that a particular potential voter would vote for NDC or NPP for you to decide who you should prevent and who you should allow to register?” Mr Obimpeh quizzed.

He accused the NPP of peddling the falsehood in its attempt to divert attention so that it could perpetrate fraud in the registration exercise for their political advantage.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE on the subject, the Ashanti regional secretary of the NPP, Sam Pyne, noted that he was not surprised about the said meeting because the alleged decision taken at the meeting had started manifesting at the various registration centers.

According to him, macho-men, wearing NDC ‘T’ shirts and other paraphernalia, riding on unlicensed motorbikes and in vehicles had allegedly been storming registration centers in the region to cause confusion.

He mentioned some of the centers the macho-men had stormed to disrupt the exercise as Asafo Zion, Asafo Goil filing station, Abirem, Asokore Mampong and Suame.

The regional secretary pointed out that though the NPP would not engage itself in violent acts, the party would do everything possible to ensure that eligible voters are not denied their right to register.