Voter registration: Gunshots fired amid confusion at Cape Coast North

The limited voter registration exercise on Thursday [May 9, 2024] in the Cape Coast North constituency of the Central Region was marked with fear as some men allegedly fired gunshots at the scene.

It is reported that the gunshots were fired by thugs guarding the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate, Horace Ekow Ewusi.

The multiple shots at the registration centre in the early morning were intended to discourage the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) from registering a group of people they bussed from a different location to the registration centre.

The registrants were reportedly moved from Moree in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese constituency.

Reports suggest that the NPP members at the centre vowed to prevent the limited registration exercise from proceeding.

This resulted in an altercation between NPP and NDC members and the subsequent firing of gunshots.

The police and EC officials are yet to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, no arrest has been made.

This situation comes a day after the police arrested three individuals for engaging in a fight and temporarily disrupting the ongoing limited voter registration exercise at the Tepa Electoral Commission office in the Ashanti Region.

“The three suspects, Abass Abukari, George Vinor, and Abdul Karim, are currently in police custody assisting with the investigation,” the law enforcement agency said in a statement on Wednesday, May 8.

Ghanaians who have attained age 18 and other adult citizens who do not have voter identification cards can participate in the exercise to enable them to vote in the presidential and parliamentary elections later this year.

The registration began on May 7 and will last for 21 days.

The EC intends to submit the provisional voter register to the political parties between July 9 and 18, 2024, and mount an exhibition of the voter register between July 15 and 24, 2024.

The final voter register is expected to be submitted to the political parties between August 30 and September 5, 2024.