Information reaching DAILY GUIDE confirmed that some northerners in the eastern regional secretariat of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) would today (Monday) start bussing majority of Burkinabes to Ghana to get registered in the ongoing biometric limited registration exercise.
Alhaji Umar Bondinga, the Regional First Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who confirmed this to DAILY GUIDE, said their intelligence reports confirmed that the NDC had parked buses at Darkola, a border town in Burkina Faso, where they would today (Monday) bus tomato farmers and other people to the Eastern Region to register in places such as Achiase, Afram Plains, Oda, Suhum, Asuogyaman and Kwahu.
“Our sources said some of the Eastern Regional Executives of the NDC, precisely those who are northerners in the party, have linked up with others at Paga and have masterminded the move to bus majority of Burkinabes to the region today to get registered and vote in the upcoming November polls, in order to secure their [NDC] agenda 50/50 project,” he alleged.
Alhaji Bondinga indicated that “The NDC as a party has become so unpopular in the region due to the general dissatisfaction and disaffection among the people towards the Mahama-led government to the extent that they have to resort to the bussing of people from other regions to Eastern Region to register…
“This action of the NDC in the ongoing limited registration exercise is illegal, unwarranted, unlawful and shameful and they must be told in plain clear language.”
He posited that “At Kyebi in the Abuakwa South constituency, it took some brave women to resist the registration of some 52 Nigeriens who were bussed from Ashaiman in Greater Accra to the constituency by the NDC’s parliamentary candidate, Owuraku Amofa. The people were brought to the constituency in a Nigerien Renault-branded vehicle with registration number 8Q9137 with the inscription, ZOMO, to illegally participate in the ongoing limited registration exercise.’’
He added that “The NDC parliamentary candidate for Fanteakwa South, Abigail Elorm, also on Saturday bussed some people including minors from Volta Region to get registered at Dwenasi, a farming community in the constituency, but the residents there stopped them from registering and sacked the Voltarians back to their region.’’
Alhaji Umar Bondinga called on the police, other security agencies and party members who are in the border areas to stop the move by the NDC to get foreigners to register in Ghana.
“We urge the police and other security agencies not to kowtow to any pressure from the so-called “above” and bend their rules of engagement to favour one political entity. They must bring their professionalism to bear to ensure a level playing field in this electioneering period,’’ he urged.
Confusion
Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE has gathered that since last week, there have been several physical attacks at various registration centres in the region, where some thugs believed to have been hired by the NDC have been moving from one centre to the other driving eligible voters away on grounds that they are minors and destroying materials of the Electoral Commission.
In places such as Akwatia, Suhum, Akyem Oda, Ofoase/Ayirebi and Atiwa among others, there were exchanges of blows and physical assault at Kwahu – Nkwantia between the executives of the NDC and the NPP, which led to the Kwahu Abetifi NDC Youth Organiser, John Teye, sustaining injuries. He was reported to have protested against the registration of about 200 students from Nkwantia Senior High School, who had gone to that centre to register, on grounds that they were minors. This reportedly resulted in an altercation that led to the arrest of one NPP member.
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NDC Justification
The Eastern Regional Communication Officer of the NDC, Jamal Konneh, after the incident, in a statement, called on the police to act swiftly and apprehend those who were bent on disrupting the exercise.
“We want the police and the national security to stop all unregistered vehicles in the region during this period since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is using such vehicles for their illegal activities,” the statement said.
It further urged all polling agents to “continue challenging every minor the NPP tries to register in the region as the law demands. We wish to assure them of the needed protection they need moving forward.”
NPP Concerns
However, the regional executive body of the New Patriotic Party, which noted with concern that the ruling National Democratic Congress was deliberately using thugs to intimidate and beat people at the various registration centres in the region, especially first time registrants from the Senior High Schools, in a press statement issued and signed by David Prah, the Regional Communications Director, called on the security agencies to put in place measures to halt these acts of lawlessness.
According to the NPP, the NDC executives, aware that the youth would not vote for them come November 7, 2016 due to their abysmal performance in the management of the country’s economy and the general neglect of the youth by the Mahama-led NDC government, had adopted these crude and cruel strategies of physically preventing eligible people from registering and unnecessarily challenging same, especially in areas they perceived as the strongholds of the NPP.
“The NDC’s shameless armed thugs, including some of their regional executives led by Mark Oliver Kevor, the Regional Secretary, and his Deputy Francis Dompreh, were seen with machetes and chanting war songs moving from one registration centre to another intimidating and violently and unlawfully preventing prospective and eligible people from registering, especially at the Kwahu block,’’ the NPP stated.
The statement indicated that “the NDC thugs went to the Nkwantia post office registration centre in the Abetifi constituency and started beating people who had queued to register. They were, however, resisted strongly by the youth in the area, which resulted in a scuffle between the supporters of both parties. We found it very unfortunate that the police would arrest only the NPP guy with the excuse that it was an order from above. This is unacceptable and dangerous to our democracy.’’
Again, these NDC thugs were seen wielding arms and firing from all angles with the sole aim of intimidating and scaring registrants and it took the expertise of the Abetifi Police to halt this insanity and unlawful act of the NDC’s shameless thugs.
The party indicated that it was a law-abiding and decent political party and would continue to collaborate with the established security agencies to ensure a smooth and peaceful registration process that would produce a credible voter register for election 2016.
The party, however, assured its polling agents, numerous supporters in the region and the good people of Ghana that the ‘“OPERATION GET VOTES FOR NANA’ is on course, focused and begins with this registration. We urge them to resist any attempts and all forms of intimidation and oppressors’ rule as our national anthem enjoins. We will give them the needed protection, with the assistance of the security agencies, as they go about their lawful duties of ensuring that qualified persons get registered in this limited registration exercise.’’
