President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufu Addo has taken a swipe at critics and opposition elements to the compilation of a new voter register for the 2020 elections.
The President in a televised address on Ghana’s management of the Coronavirus disease, six months after the country recorded its first case described the registration exercise as very successful.
He noted that people who swore to fiercely resist the compilation and prophesied doom for the country ended up registering.
“There were genuine and understandable concerns about conducting such a complex exercise involving millions of citizens at this time. But at the end of the day, Ghanaians did their civic duty by going out to register having found that the process was overwhelmingly orderly, peaceful and safe. However, there were those who expressed various degrees of hysteria and negativity towards the exercise with some who swore heaven and earth to resist the compilation of the register at the peril of their lives ending up registering,” he said.
Though delighted by the successful conduct of the exercise, the President condemned pockets of violence recorded at some registration centers leading to the death of two people.
“I congratulate warmly, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensah, her two deputies, Dr. Eric Asare Bossman and Mr. Samuel Tetteh and the entire commission for their efficient, safe, transparent nature of the registration exercise. We have for the first time in our nation’s history, Ghanaians were provided with daily updates of the numbers of eligible voters registered together with specific age, gender, regional breakdowns and breakdowns of identity documents. All eligible voters were given the unfettered opportunity to register,” he added.
The president in his 15th COVID-19 induced address called on the Ghana Police Service to deal with the pockets of violence without fear or favor.
