Politics of Friday, 8 August 2014

Source: Today Newspaper

Thousands refuse to register

The on-going nationwide voters’ registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC) has been hit by low turnout leaving tongues wagging whether Ghanaians are fed up with elections in the country.

The ten days exercise which commenced last Monday to register people who turned18 after 2012 and those who could not register, is experiencing low turnouts at most registration centers across the country.

Today’s visit to centres in Osu, Labadi, Circle, Nungua, Achimota, Achimota, Kaneshie, Dansoman, Tema among others on the first and second day of the exercise showed apathy on the part of Ghanaians.

“We don’t even know what we are doing, and the truth of the matter is that we have completely lost interest in voting in the country” some young men at one of the centres at Achimota said.

At the Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) at Kokomlemle, a suburb of Accra, little over 20 people as at 10:00 AM had registered with a few people waiting in a queue to do same.

In an interview with Today, an assistant registration at Osu Blogodo registration centre, Mr. Robert Boahene attributed the low turn out to lack of publicity and education on the part of the EC.

Nonetheless, he was optimistic that numbers will increase as the days go by.

Reports from other parts of the country indicated similar conditions.

Places like Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Koforidua, Tumu, Baktoe, according to this paper’s reporters are recording low patronage.