Call for extension of registration period

Kperisi (UW), March 22, GNA - A number of communities in the Wa Municipal Assembly on Saturday appealed to the Electoral Commission (EC) to extend the registration period to enable many eligible voters in their areas to register.

They made the appeal when Mr Clement Eledi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture and an aspiring parliamentary candidate for the Wa Central constituency, toured the communities to monitor the exercise and interact with elders and opinion leaders.

Mr Eledi visited Kperisi, Chegli, Sing, Busa, Biihee, Jonga, Nakari and Chansa.

At the time of the visits, registration officials had failed to turn up in some of the centres due to the shortage of materials such as registration forms, laminating materials and films.

They said an extension of time would enable the registration officials to cover period lost due to the shortage of the materials. According to them, the registration officials abandoned some of the centres for three to four days leaving many eligible voters frustrated while others also took advantage of the lull in the exercise to travel for funerals and other social activities.

During the interactions, the elders of Kperisi, Sing and Biihee praised the government for the numerous projects it had provided for them within the short span of three years.

"Nobody needs to tell us to vote for a government which in three years provided us with needs that we never dreamt of," Alhaji Seidu Sakara, spokesman for the elders of Kperisi said.

Mr. Eledi advised all prospective voters in the area not to get frustrated by the shortage of the materials.

He said all efforts were being made to ensure that the exercise ended successfully.

Mr. Eledi urged voters in areas where there was shortage of only films and laminating materials, to continue to register while they waited for their photographs to be taken. Meanwhile, registration re-started in earnest at centres close to Wa on Sunday, after the delivery of the materials from Accra on Saturday night.