The Eastern Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised a grave concern about some discrepancies and illegal transfer of voters in the 2024 Voter Register compiled by the Electoral Commission (EC) in all 33 Constituencies in the region.
The Eastern Regional Secretary of the NDC, Jamal Konneh. Addressing the Media during a Press Conference on Monday in Koforidua, they said, “Elections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibility of citizens in a democracy. Hence, it is the responsibility of the Electoral Commission to ensure the elections are free, fair, and transparent and it is also our responsibility as stakeholders to hold the Electoral Commission accountable.”
According to him, the discrepancies range from voter transfer without their knowledge to the unlawful fixing of proxy voters in some constituencies. “We consider these to be deliberate because we know that the NPP’s ‘IT IS POSSIBLE’ mantra is based on the fact that the EC will rig the 2024 general elections in their favor, he added.”
“Although it is obvious that the EC is in bed with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), we thought they would be a bit reasonable to think about the peace that every Ghanaian before, during, and after the elections and also protect the little integrity they have left, if any, but the electoral body is bent on doing NPP’s bidding“ he reiterated.
“There is a polling station in the Asuogyaman Constituency with a code E011303, International School Akosombo, which has only one voter captured in the voter register as having registered by the Electoral Commission,” he revealed.
“We thoroughly reviewed the Voter Register of all the 33 constituencies in the Eastern Region and discovered that at Achiase Constituency, for instance, the official total number of voter transfers was four hundred and fifty-three (453). However, one thousand five hundred and twenty (1520) voter transfers were recorded in the register. This means one thousand and sixty-seven (1067) voter transfers were illegally effected in the Achiase Constituency,” Jamal Konneh stated.
“Similarly, in the Lower Manya Krobo Constituency, Nine hundred and seventy- eight (978) voter transfer was recorded. However, two thousand three hundred and fifty-nine (2359) voter transfers were discovered in the register. Therefore, one thousand three hundred and eighty-one voter transfers have been illegally added to the Lower Manya Krobo Constituency’s voter register,” he noted.
“In the Yilo Krobo constituency, 1419 voter transfers were recorded. But 2285 voter transfers were discovered in the register. 866 illegal transfers were effected in that constituency voter register,” he claimed.
“In the Ofoase-Ayeribi Constituency, 377 voter transfers were recorded at the end of the transfer period by EC. Yet, 588 voter transfers have been recorded by the EC. Thus, 251 illegal transfers have been discovered in the register of Ofoase-Ayeribi,” Jamal Konneh indicated.
“Likewise in Nsawam-Adoagyiri Constituency, 2000 voter transfers were recorded at the end of the transfer period but 4661 transfer lists were discovered in the EC register. Therefore, 2661 illegal transfers were added to the Nsawam-Adoagyiri voter register, to cite but a few, he indicated,” Jamal Konneh pointed out.
“Given the above deliberate illegal transfer, illegal proxy lists, and shortfalls in the register, we call for a forensic audit to ensure a clean register for a free, fair, and transparent election. The Electoral Commission must publish a clear timeline for correcting these discrepancies before printing the final voter register to avoid chaos moving forward, they demanded” he emphasized.
