Man with 355 new voter card duplicates arrested

A 36-year-old man, has been arrested in the Ashanti region for possessing 355 duplicates of the new voter ID card.

The suspect, John Amoah, also had in his possession 17 National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards, the Asokore Mampong police found out.

Mr Amoah, told the police that “he was taking contact details of residents at Buobai a suburb of the Asokore Mampong Municipality to secure Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) for them.”

According to him, he was helping the residents, mostly women, who were applying for soft loans at the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC).

The Assembly Member for Buobai Electoral Area, Salihu Yakubu, has jumped to the defense of the suspect.

The assembly member said he assigned the suspect to help residents in the area who had difficulty in acquiring their TIN.

“I told him to compile a list of residents without Tax Identification Numbers and also those whose Health Insurance Cards have expired so I can renew for them.

“I have evidence which shows that I have done the TIN for residents and also renewed Health Insurance for an uncountable number of residents of Buobai. I have even shown the list I have to the police commander,” Accra-based Citi FM reported.

But the Asawase Communications Officer for the opposition NDC, Yakubu Tony Aidoo, insisted that it was a ploy by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to disenfranchise voters in the Asawase constituency.

“The truth is that this thing is done across the Asawase constituency and they are targeting the stronghold of the NDC.

“Last week, for instance, I fought a branch chairman of the NPP when I was informed that they were collecting voters’ ID cards of residents to help them secure loans.

“We all know that no political party gives out loans. So, we don’t know why the NPP should be engaging in these exercises of going round to collect Voters’ ID cards of constituents.

“The Asokore Mampong is a stronghold of the NPP and these people are not going to these areas, but they go to Aboabo, Nima and other areas that are our strongholds”, he explained.

The Asawase NDC Communications Officer has therefore called on the police to investigate the matter and ensure the culprits are brought to book.