The parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Cape Coast North constituency, Kwamena Mintah Nyarku, has had his newly provided voter ID card withdrawn by the Electoral Commission (EC), after the Commission detected some irregularities with his registration.
Mr Mintah Nyarku, whose eligibility was challenged by an NPP polling station agent in the constituency, had the card withdrawn after the EC’s committee responsible for adjudicating on challenges had sat on the matter.
According to the EC, Mr Nyarku allegedly provided false information when he applied for the card, hence the withdrawal.
Report says the NDC PC, who lectures at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), had provided a particular residential address for his registration, which turned out to be false.
According to the report, the parliamentary candidate has two residential facilities in the area, one on the campus of UCC and one in the Cape Coast South constituency.
However, during the registration at Nkafua, a community in the Cape Coast North constituency, he provided a different residential address.
Upon the challenge of the information provided, the EC immediately withdrew the card and referred the matter to the voter challenge committee. The committee, after visiting the said facility, then ruled against the NDC PC, leading to the withdrawal of the card.
Should the EC pursue the criminal aspect of the PC’s action, he may be liable to a fine not less than GHC6,000 or at least a two-year jail term.
The withdrawal, thus, puts him in a dicey position as his eligibility to contest for the seat might be affected by the action.
He has, however, given indication that he will be appealing the withdrawal.
No suit received
Meanwhile, the EC says it has not received any suit challenging the conduct of voter registration at senior high schools in the country.
The opposition NDC on Friday filed a suit at the Accra High Court challenging the EC’s decision to register senior high school students at their various campuses.
However, a Deputy Chairman of the Commission in-charge of Corporate Affairs, Dr Bossman Asare, speaking at press conference yesterday, said the Commission had not been served with the suit.
“Nothing has come to the attention of the Electoral Commission. We haven’t received any information regarding any suit,” he said.
The decision to register SHS students at their campuses, according to the EC, was communicated to political parties after an emergency Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on Thursday, July 9, 2020.
However, the NDC says the exercise is “illegal and wrongful.”
It is, therefore, seeking “a declaration that it is illegal and wrongful for the EC to conduct registration at any place including campuses of a Senior High School which was not contained in the Gazette and notification in accordance with C.I 91.”
Hitches resolved
In a related development, the Commission says it has successfully resolved about 98 per cent of network issues which led to delays in the commencement of the registration exercise at some centres on Sunday, July 12 2020.
Some registration centres in the country experienced technical problems due to bad network.
Registration could, therefore, not start at the expected time of 7:00 am as spelt out by the Commission for the commencement of the exercise.
Seven remanded
In a related development, a circuit court in Accra has remanded seven persons into police custody for causing disturbances at a registration centre.
They are Rashid Tubiga, 23, trader; Usman Abdella, 24, painter; Baba Hamisu, 28, graphic designer; Samir Nuru, 32, footballer; Mamudu Shaibu, 35, barber; Abu Mohammed, 38, mechanic; and Musah Awudu, 40, farmer.
They were charged with two counts of offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace, and obstructing police officers from performing their duty.
ASP Evans Kesse, prosecuting, told the court that at about 7:20 a.m. on July 7, 2020, the police received information that two men had invaded the E P Church registration centre in Accra New Town, wielding machetes and causing disturbances.
The incident occurred while the registration exercise was ongoing.
Police personnel went to the location, arrested and handcuffed Rashid Tubiga and Osman Abdella, the two men who had invaded the registration centre.
However, media report says while the police were taking the two persons to Kotobabi Police Station, five men on board a Nissan pick-up vehicle, with registration number GC 3286-19, crossed the police vehicle, attacked the police and forcibly took the two arrested persons away in their vehicle.
However, on July 9, 2020, Tubiga and Abdella were re-arrested, and with the help of some community leaders from Accra New Town, the five other persons who attacked the police team and freed Tubiga and Abdella were also arrested from their hideout.
