The ongoing biometric Registration Exercise floods the dailies today, with a few challenges here and there. The Daily Graphic's news on Hitches here and there states that the National biometric voter's registration exercise took off to a flying start on Saturday, despite some technical challenges which slowed down the process at some registration centres. Malfunctioning printers and laptops and the inability of thumbprints machines to connect the computers were some of the challenges which confronted the exercise at some centers.
The Ghanaian Times also reports on the challenges that Voter registration faces problems. Technical hitches at some polling stations on Saturday nearly disrupted the smooth take-off of the Biometric Voter Registration exercise, the Ghana News Agency observed. The technical hitches included malfunctioning of the printers and laptops, while in some places, the thumbprints machines could not link up with the computers.
More news on the Biometric exercise as EC suspends registration at Akuse over court suit. The Electoral Commission (EC) on Friday suspended the Biometric Voter Registration exercise in six electoral areas in Akuse, due to a legal suit before the Supreme Court. The Ghanaian Times indicates that the electoral areas are Zongo Newtown, Akutue, Osukutu, Amedeka, Salom and Bungalow.
In a related story the Daily Guide reports about the Akrugu-Daboo Boycotts, saying that residents of Akrugu-Daboo community have refused to participate in the Biometric Voter Registration exercise. They did not partake on the exercise on the first day and checks on the second day revealed that they had boycotted the event.
The Heritage newspaper also reports that Personnel of the Electoral Commission who were deployed to administer the biometric registration exercise which commenced nationwide on Saturday were yesterday forced to lock out angry prospective voters at the Krowor constituency of the Greater Accra region. According to the paper, EC Agents lock out lawless applicants as Officers of the Commission after persistent pleas to residents to exercise patience and wait for their turn had no option than to lock prospective registrants from forcing their way into the centre to disrupt the exercise.
Still on the registration challenges, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Electoral Commission of manipulating the ongoing voter biometric registration in certain parts of Accra to favour the ruling party. The Ghanaian Observer stated that NPP Blows Alarm, adding that the Greater Accra regional branch of the party is alleging that new registration centres have been created in the region without their knowledge "contrary to the agreed number of registration centres."
Biometric Blues….. NPP RAISES RED FLAG, is the headline the New Crusading Guide adopts while reporting that the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of conniving with the Electoral Commission (EC) to manipulate the ongoing voter biometric registration exercise to favour the ruling party. According to the Greater Accra NPP branch the EC, ''contrary to the agreed number of registration centres, has added many new Registration centres without the knowledge of the NPP. Consequently, the NPP has not been able to put up party agents who are adequately prepared to effectively monitor the registration exercise.
The Daily Guide under the headline, Gunshots Rock Biometric says that several incidents , including bloody attacks , characterized the opening of the biometric voter registration exercise which started on Saturday. It further explains that a bus with passengers was rained with bullets allegedly on the instruction of a District Chief Executive (DCE) at Akomadan in the Offinso North District of the Ashanti Region.
The Chronicle records that political representatives at border communities in the Volta Region monitoring the Volta Region monitoring the ongoing biometric voters registration exercise are on high alert at registration centers to ensure that Togolese citizens do not cross the border to register and vote in the 2012 general elections. In the headline 3 Togolese thrown out of registration centers in Volta, the paper adds that speaking to media practitioners on special duties in the border communities, the Registration Officer at the Atikpui R.C Primary School registration centers, Mr. Emmanuel Azameti, disclosed that first and second day of the registration exercise were all smooth, and 67 applicants were registered with some technical difficulty , which was rectified later.
Away from registration abnormalities, the Tema Municipal Inter-Party Dialogue Committee on the biometric registration exercise has appealed for patience, tolerance and demonstration of civility at all registration centres to ensure a violent free exercise. The committee also urged minors and non-Ghanaians to stay away and resist the temptation of being influenced to register, acts that infringe the nation's electoral laws. The Daily Graphic states with the headline 'Patience, tolerance vital at registration centres'.
Still in Tema, news from the Daily Guide indicates that the level of participation on the first and second day of the much-talked about biometric voter's registration exercise in most parts of Tema could be described as good, as Electoral Commission (EC) Officials in most of the centers in the metropolis discharged their duties without problems. Even though DAILY GUIDE could not readily get the number of people who registered on the first and second days, the exercise went on smoothly, says the paper in the headline Registration Good in Tema.
Similarly the Daily Guide reports of a Low Turn-Out in Takoradi. The biometric registration exercise that commenced in some centres in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis last Saturday was characterized by low turnouts and delays. Commencement of the exercise delayed as registration equipment was not transported to the centres on time.
More news on the Biometric Voters Register as EC assures Ghanaians that the EC ON top of registration operational challenges, The New Statesman reports. Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) said on Saturday that the Commission has in place technical mechanisms and experts to deal with any initial operational challenges that may crop up during the Biometric Voter Registration exercise. ''We anticipated operational challenges including equipment failure, difficulty in capturing data, and other human related hiccups and we have a mobile task force in place to deal with the issues as and when reported. The paper also reports that voters registration is' successful in Hohoe. The first day of the Biometric Voter Registration exercise in the Hohoe-North and South Constituencies was largely successful but a few centres experienced some initial technical hitches that delayed the start of the process. Kwabena Karikari Hohoe Municipal Director of Electoral Commission, told the GNA yesterday that the success could be rated above 85 percent.
EC advises prospective voters to keep their registration receipts is the headline used by the Ghanaian Times to indicate that the Electoral Commission(EC) has announced that those who successfully go through the biometric registration exercise will be issued receipts, upon receiving their identity cards. The Commission said this will facilitate quick replacement for those who might later lose their identity cards.
Still on the Biometric Registration exercise, the New Crusading Guide says that EXTENSION OF BIOMETRIC VOTER REGISTRATION NECESSARY. Mr. Michael Kobla Adzaho District Chief Executive of Agotime-Ziope has appeal to the Electoral Commission to consider extending the period of registration at centres which experienced technical challenges with the registration machines. He noted that those hitches compelled many eligible voters to abandon the registration in frustration.
Before we move away from the registration exercise, the Daily graphic reads that NORSAAC to facilitate registration. The Northern Sector Action on Awareness Centre (NORSAAC) is to facilitate and encourage 700 first-time eligible voters in the Tolon Kumbungu and Gushiegu districts and the Tamale metropolis in the Northern Region to successfully go through the nationwide biometric registration exercise.The move is part of the one-year project dubbed, ''Strengthening Advocacy for Peaceful Elections" aimed at supporting stakeholders in the exercise and the entire electioneering to encourage people to register and vote to promote peaceful elections.
Away from the voter registration exercise, the Ghanaian Times reports that The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), will today, inaugurate national enforcement bodies to monitor strict adherence to Election 2012 Political Parties' Code of Conduct. According to the IEA, the enforcement bodies would make political parties aware that their electioneering activities are being monitored and any party which violated the Code would be tagged a "violent party" and named and shamed in the newspapers or on the airwaves. This is what the paper says under the headline IEA sets up political parties' Code of Conduct enforcement bodies.
Finally, Ghanaians are urged to Demand sanity in electoral campaign- NCCE Boss. According to The Chronicle, the Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs. Charlotte Osei, has urged Ghanaian citizens to take control of the political discourse in the Country by telling politicians what expect of them. According to her, 'as we enter into the campaign season and a critical election year, it is critical that we as a people. Take a seriously our democracy and remind ourselves that we all have a role to play in creating the kind of democracy we want.
AEP
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