Prison Pledges Support To EC

Owusu-Parry (left) and Kofi Bansah interacting

The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Michael Kofi Bansah, has stated that the Service is ready to release its men to support the Electoral Commission (EC) in the biometric voter registration if the need arises.

He said the security institution will do everything possible to ensure that the biometric voter registration exercise becomes a success.

Mr. Bansah revealed that the Service will not reject proposals by the Commission.

Speaking at a day's seminar organized to brief the warders about the biometric voter registration, he said the Service was prepared to partner other security agencies in the country to provide security.

Mr. Bansah said the Service is in talks with the EC to find ways to help political parties campaign in prisons.

The Public Affairs Director of EC, Christian Owusu-Parry said the scanners that are going to be used for the registration exercise are not harmful, as it was being propagated by some unidentified persons.

'The scanner does not give cancer as some people are saying.'

According to him, the scanners, which would be used for biometric registration, are identical to the ones used at the various international airports and institutions such as National Identification Authority (NIA) and the Passport Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to collect electronic fingerprints of Ghanaians acquiring national identity or biometric passports.

He warned that persons who refuse to allow the officers to scan their hands would not be allowed to go through the process of the registration to obtain ID cards.

This, he said, will prevent them from voting on the Election Day.

He said they were working around the clock to make proxy voting possible, adding, 'Proxy voting will be very difficult but the commission is still finding ways to make it possible.'

By Cephas Larbi