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NDC Inciting People From Volta Region Against NPP – Sheikh Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid

Sheikh Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the minister for Zongo affairs and NPP 2020 campaign team spokesperson says the opposition NDC is trying hard to incite the people of the Volta Region against the incumbent NPP.

According to Sheikh Abdul-Hamid, due to the NDC’s desperation for power, they are going about claiming that the ruling party is seeking to suppress votes in the Volta region ahead of the December 7 polls through the ongoing voter registration exercise.

“What the NDC is doing is just to pitch us, the NPP, against the good people of the Volta Region. All that we are asking for is for Ghanaians to register, Ghanaians not foreigners. Before coming here, I checked the figures from the EC [Electoral Commission] website and over 800,000 people have registered in the Volta Region,” the Zongo and Inner City Development Minister was quoted as saying in a story published Tuesday by Citi News.

"Over 800,000 is just [...] 100,000 short by the 2016 figures. Now if people are being suppressed in the Region, will we have such figures coming from there? I’m very sure by the time EC finishes this registration, they will hit the 900,000 mark the Region had in 2016…where is the suppression?”

Critics have, however, promptly reminded him that but for the suppression, the registered voters may have hit one million by now - the figure which the NPP fears. Some critics have noted that so far the NPP has not accused the NDC of registering minors in their strongholds, a key argument that necessitated the compilation of this new register. The registration exercise ends on 6 August, and there are viral videos of bona fide Ghanaians being prevented from registering just because they are from Volta Region.

This has made the chief of Aflao very angry and he has not hidden his anger from various fact-finding teams.

By the rules of the EC (Constitutional Instrument 126), it is party agents who may challenge the eligibility of a person who wishes to register, but the viral videos show armed men in uniform doing so.

The ruling party has also been criticized for deploying military personnel to border towns across the country since the voter registration exercise started, not to restrict movement due to the coronavirus pandemic, but to prevent people from registering.

Some have also reminded the NPP that they have conveniently forgotten their avowed decision to enforce an existing law - the amended ROPAL - that allows Ghanaians abroad to register and vote.

John Mahama, the NDC flag bearer, said recently that the government is using military personnel to “intimidate” people seeking to have their names on the voters' register.

But this, Sheikh Abdul-Hamid, the NPP’s Deputy Campaign Manager in charge of Communication, noted should be disregarded.

“John [Mahama] is desperate, we all see how desperate he is, so he will say anything to court support from Ghanaians but it’s a lie, we know what he did when given the opportunity to serve as the leader of this country,” Sheikh Dr Abdul-Hamid said.

“John Mahama performed abysmally and I am not sure Ghanaians want to give him another chance.”

President Akufo-Addo meanwhile said in Kumasi last Friday that he was “unaware” of any persons being prevented from registering, and despite the backlash and trending viral videos, has not acknowledged the facts of the matter.