Volta Region Voter's Register Bloated

More than a tenth of the people whose names appear on the electoral roll of the Volta region are either under age, registered more than once or foreigners who entered from elsewhere to register in the region

. Figures obtained from the Ghana Statistical Service and the Electoral Commission (EC), when compared, portray the border region as having 124,202 people more than necessary on the voters' register.

The figure is 14.45%, almost 15%, of the 983, 588 registered voters of the region. The 124,202 fraudulently registered voters are almost eight times the voters in the Nanton constituency of the Northern region, which is one of the smallest in the country with a voter population of 15,764. It is even bigger than the figure for Manhyia in the Ashanti region, one of the most populous constituencies with 123,049 voters.

And the huge bloating is in spite of the appreciable attempts made by the EC and the Inter Party Action Committee in year 2000. In fact for the 1996 general elections, the Volta region had a far more bloated register. At a time when the entire population of the region was estimated at 1,274,197, Volta had 893,534 voters - 70% of the entire population, as registered, according to a booklet compiled by the EC - with support from Friedrich Ebert Stifling for that year's elections.

After persistent hue and cry form the opposition parties at the time, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government sourced funds for the year 2000 Population and Housing census.

The opposition had described the total registered voters of 9,185,660 for the 1996 elections incredible in a nation that had less than 17 million people at the time.

In particular high figures that had emerged from the 1992 and 1996 general elections from the Volta region - the strongest hold of the NDC - had whipped up opposition agitations for the counting of everybody in the districts before re-registration for the elections.

"The census was a de facto count and each person present in Ghana, irrespective of nationality, was enumerated at the place he/she spent the midnight of March 26, 2000," according to Dr. K. A. Twum-Baah, acting government statistician and census co-ordinator. That meant everybody, including ex-convicts, infants, lunatics, apolitical Ghanaians and foreigners who do not vote were captured in the enumeration. The total population of Ghana was 18,912,079 and that of the Volta region was 1,635,421.

It also emerged from the enumeration exercise that the national average for people who were 18 years and above was 52.6%. In view of the fact that not all people above 18 years living in the country are eligible to register and vote, it is generally held that the registered voters should be fewer than those above 18 years.

But even if it is assumed that all without exception in the Volta region who were above 18 were eligible to register as voters, still far too many people registered. Though the maximum registrable voters were 859,386 as many as 983,588 registered. That meant a bloating of the register by 124,202 or 14.45%.

But the bloating was even more serious in some districts and constituencies than others. Ho, the capital district of the region has three electoral constituencies: Ho Central, Ho East and Ho West.

The Central recorded 74,601 voters in the 2000 registration exercise; the East - 34,657 and Ho West 45,339, all totaling 154,597. This was in spite of the fact that all aged 18 and above, including lunatics, foreigners and those who refused to register in the district - numbered 123,784 (52.6% x 235,331). The difference, that is, the 'fictitious' names on the voters' register, in the Ho district alone is 30,813 or 19.9% almost 20% - of the registered number of 235,331.

Readers would recall that the Ho election results were among those most vehemently objected to after the 1992, 1996 and 2000 results were released. Another district of dubious credibility as far as the number of registered voters was concerned was North Tongu, which has one constituency. With a population of 130,388 people in the records of the Statistical Service, the maximum number of voters North Tongu could have genuinely recorded was 68,584 (52.6%).

But that district/constituency managed to have 85,558 on its voters' register. The bloating was 16,974 or 19.8%, which could also be approximated to 20%. But the southern counterpart of Tongu recorded a relatively decent figure of only 2% bloating. The registrable voters were 34,090 in a constituency of 64,811 and the figure on the electoral roll rose to 34,871 with a difference of 780 people.

In the Ketu district, comprising Ketu North and Ketu South constituencies, 237,261 people were counted in the National Population census, which suggests that a maximum of 124,799 should have registered. But those holding photo identity cards in that district are 137,726 with Ketu South having 86,170. The district register is bloated with 12,927 names or 9.3%.

Some politicians, especially those of the NDC persuasion who have publicly declared the Volta region as their World Bank, try to explain the 124,202 extra names in the register of the region with the excuse that Voltaians living in Accra and elsewhere outside their home region return to register and vote whenever the time is due. But other observers counter that argument with the fact that before the last population census, all chiefs, opinion leaders and even politicians canvassed their people to return home and be counted there.

Campaigners reminded those living outside their hometowns that development projects would be based largely on consideration of population distributions, and many including those from the Volta region returned home to register.

EC officials confronted with the bloated figures sought consolation in the fact that the use of photo ID cards, as we now have, largely reduces impersonation and use of fake names. They, however, conceded that the existence of fraudulent names on the register remained a major threat to the holding of patently clean and acceptable elections.

Less than 20 months from now, the nation will go for the fourth general elections under the Fourth Republic. Will the authorities undertake a further cleaning of the voters' register? Is Volta region the only bad guy? Or are the Ashanti and some other regions also guilty of over-registration of voters?

Chronicle decided to lead with a write-up on the Volta region in view of its persistent high voting percentage, for example (62.4%) against a national average of (50.48%) in 1992. The Volta region with a population of 1,635,421 is the seventh on the ladder of the population census. But it jumps to sixth position on the electoral roll. The rest of the regions will be exposed - if found to be guilty.

- A. C. Ohene reporting.