The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of doing everything possible to undermine the peaceful voter registration exercise being conducted by the Electoral Commission.
Addressing a press conference at the Alisa Hotel on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, National Chairman of NPP, Freddie Blay said the NDC does not have a message to Ghanaians in the upcoming 2020 polls hence making baseless and ethnocentric claims.
“The NDC is desperately trying to undermine the simple and peaceful exercise of voters’ registration into one of ethnocentrism, outright fabrications, needless exaggerations, and old fashioned fear-mongering propaganda and inferior communists tactics. It has not been very smooth, I must say, but the Electoral Commission, the only institution with sole authority to determine elections has had to prove its mettle during this exercise,” Mr Fredie Blay said.
Mr. Blay made the remark on the back of the banter between the NDC and NPP as both parties accuse each other of violence and busing of people to centres to take part in the voter registration exercise.
The NDC led by its flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama had accused the government of using security agencies to suppress votes in the NDC’s strongholds.
John Mahama, recently spoke against what he calls the “discriminatory” use of military personnel by President Akufo-Addo to disenfranchise some Ghanaians in Banda in the Bono Region.
“The road President Akufo-Addo is taking our beautiful country through, using the military and party thugs to stop people from exercising their right to register and vote in the upcoming December elections, is dangerous and unacceptable.”
“There have been many reports and video evidence, like the one in this post, of the President’s deployment and discriminatory use of soldiers to target our brothers and sisters in the Volta Region and wherever there are settlements of Voltarians and non-Akans,” he added.
The party had also complained that the government had deployed military some areas including the Volta Region with the hope of intimidating residents from registering to vote.
In all such instances, the Akufo-Addo government had rubbished the claims.
Provide evidence that voters are being suppressed – Nitiwul challenges Mahama
The Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul on Monday, August 3, 2020, challenged John Mahama to prove claims that non-Akans and Ewes are being intimidated in the ongoing voter registration exercise.
“The former president is wrong and misled to think that the military is being used to suppress people. The Volta Region he cited, can anybody tell me that the figures in the Volta Region are lower than the national average? Obviously not. So where is the voter suppression? Are the figures in the Northern Region lower than the national average? Obviously not. Are the figures in the Greater Accra Region also lower than the national average? It is also a no. So where is the voter suppression here again? We also have over 30,000 registration centres, how many centres have we seen military personnel visit for anybody to conclude there is voter suppression? Of course, they have visited registration centres where there is trouble and they will continue to places where there is trouble but for anybody to conclude especially a former president and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces to conclude there is voter suppression, he is misleading the people.”
