EC Officials Arrested

TWO ELECTORAL officers in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region have been arrested by the police for allegedly registering people four days after the Electoral Commission (EC) had officially ended the nationwide Voters' Registration Exercise.

The two, Augustine Fordjour, a registration officer and Rudolf Chiery, the electoral officer for Tain, according to the police, were picked up following a tip-off that the former was still registering people, on August 17, at a village called Nyire in the Banda area of Tain.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the Wenchi Divisional Police Commander, Superintendent Kwame Nkrumah Akomeah, disclosed that Fordjour was the first to be arrested, because he was the person directly involved in the exercise at Nyire.

Supt. Akomeah said during police investigation he mentioned the district electoral officer as the person who instructed him to embark on the exercise.

According to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) chairman for Tain Constituency, Mr. Seth Oteng, some party members in the constituency phoned him whilst he was in Takoradi for the national delegates' conference that they had spotted Fordjour with some registration materials heading towards Nyire.

Mr. Oteng indicated that he drew the attention of the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Hon. Joe Danquah, to the allegation.

The MP, he said, also informed the District BNI officer who together with some NPP members went to Nyire, where Fordjour was doing his own thing. He was consequently seized with the registration materials and handed over to the police.

The Divisional Police Commander told DAILY GUIDE that when Fordjour was arrested 15 poll book forms were found on him.

According to Supt. Akomeah, when the district electoral officer was picked up he confirmed that he asked Fordjour to continue the registration exercise, as those registered there could not complete the registration process.

The Police Commander said the issue was still under investigation and if it becomes necessary to prosecute those involved, the police would not hesitate to do so.

Meanwhile some NPP supporters in Tain have called for the removal of the district electoral officer, since his presence in the district, according to them, would cause confusion in the area.