We’ll beat you mercilessly if you try to disrupt voters’ register compilation – Obiri Boahen warns
The Deputy General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, has said that persons who attempt to foment trouble during the compilation of the new voters’ register would be beaten mercilessly.
According to him, the violence that marred the Ayawaso West by-election was just a tip of the iceberg. He warned of more dangerous brutalities on persons who attempt to disrupt the upcoming exercise.
“Stay home if you don’t agree to the compilation of the new register because anyone who tries to disrupt the exercise will be beaten. We will beat you mercilessly. What happened in Ayawaso is just a tip of the iceberg,” he said on Dadi FM, a Suhum-based radio station.
NPP doesn’t need new voters register to win 2020 elections – Mac Manu
Mr Obiri Boahen also stated that the compilation of a new voters’ register for the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Election was non-negotiable.
“…limited registration isn’t it a registration. If we say we are doing general registration and that only 25 people should be in a queue at a time won’t the same be done for limited registration?
“Every registration is registration. Covid-19 is not part of an emergency under the constitution of Ghana. So whether it is COVID-19 or not elections would be held. At all cost, the new register would be compiled, and if you don’t understand, you can get petrol to set fire into yourself,” he was reported as saying.
Political parties reject “bogus, bias” UG survey on new voters register
The decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new voters’ register has been met with stiff opposition by a coalition of political parties, the Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voters Register (IPRAN).
The coalition is made up of six political parties, including the largest opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voters Register (IPRAN) staged a series of demonstrations in parts of the country to register their disapproval for the compilation of the voters’ register. Some 18 civil society organisations are also up in arms against a new register, which they insisted would amount to waste of resources.
Despite the numerous protests against the EC’s decision, the commission has maintained its position saying it would go ahead with the compilation of the register.
It had earlier scheduled to start the compilation on April 18, 2020, but had to put that on ice due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.
The EC, however, said it would still go ahead with its plans of compiling a new voters’ register with barely six months to the Presidential and Parliamentary elections.