Voter Registration: NPP challenges age of student

Hohoe, April 28, GNA - Agents of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the E.P. Junior High School Registration Centre at Hohoe, on Thursday, challenged the age eligibility of a Senior High School student who reported to register.

The agents alleged that the physical appearance of the boy showed that he was below 18 years and he was not 19, as he had stated.

Mr Seth Antwi, one of the agents, told the Ghana News Agency that, 'The boy has no documentation to verify his age and it is important that we scrutinise him to ensure that minors are not registered.'

The incident brought a short hold up at the centre with agents of the NPP and National Democratic Congress (NDC) exchanging words.

Mr Kwabena Karikari, the Hohoe Municipal Electoral Officer with oversight responsibility at Afadjato South, said once a challenge form was filled, the voter identification card would be withheld by the Commission until the age eligibility was ascertained.

'We will sit on this matter,' he said. 'If anyone doubts the age of someone who comes to register, they need to fill a challenge form, and we will pick it up from there'.

A total of 10 people had registered at the Centre at about 1015 hours.

At the RC Primary School Centre, 15 people had registered at 1030 Hours and five had at the St. Francis Demonstration Registration Centre.

Mr Ken Mortiglo, the Registration Officer at the St. Francis Demonstration Centre, told the GNA that one major challenge they faced was that people who had turned up to register had no guarantors.

'The only problem here is that most of the people do not have guarantors, so we are not able to register them,' he explained.

The Limited Voters' Registration Exercise began today, Thursday, April 28, 2016, to register persons who have turned 18, as well as those who do not have their names on the electoral roll.

The Electoral Commission has said the two-week exercise is expected to capture 1.2 million voters.

GNA