{"id":625142,"date":"2019-05-26T07:06:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-26T07:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"
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\"Kofi<\/p>\n
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\"Kofi<\/figure>\n

Former National Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kofi Adams has raised concerns with the Electoral Commission\u2019s (EC) recruitment of personnel for the\u00a0limited voter registration exercise.<\/p>\n

Mr. Adams said on The Big Issue<\/strong>\u00a0on Citi TV\/Citi FM<\/strong> that his party did not think the process was being transparent enough.<\/p>\n

He recalled that in the past, the recruitment was done in such a way that \u201callowed political parties and individuals who have issues to raise about these officers to do so before the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately for us. This commission is doing things in a secretive way and they are already embarking on the training of these officers when parties don\u2019t even know who these persons are,\u201d Mr. Adams claimed.<\/p>\n

This is the latest concern the NDC has raised with the\u00a0limited voter registration exercise after concerns the EC was not being comprehensive enough in the registration process.<\/p>\n

The NDC accused the EC of scheming to disenfranchise about one million voters when it announced that the registration was going to be centralised in the various districts.<\/p>\n

The EC later announced that it will compromise<\/strong><\/span> and conduct the limited voter registration exercise in selected areas in addition to its district offices.<\/p>\n

The NDC wanted the EC to decentralise the exercise up to the electoral area levels instead of just the 260 districts offices.<\/p>\n

Estimates ahead of registration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyond this, Mr. Adams suggested that the EC\u2019s estimation ahead of the registration were problematic.<\/p>\n

According to him, the NDC\u2019s checks show that 1.7 million Ghanaians have turned 18 since 2016.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Adams said the EC \u201ctold us they are estimating 300,000\u201d to be registered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen when we went to IPAC and we asked them, they [EC] said now it is 500,000,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In his view, the EC\u2019s estimations were based on \u201cguesswork\u201d and not reliable information.<\/p>\n

He reminded that the estimates had a bearing on the procurement of logistics.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegistrations works with materials, you don\u2019t just register on a computer\u2026If they are estimating to register 500,000, they will not be printing one million forms.\u201d<\/p>\n