The National Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), George Opare Addo, has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of dishonesty, following his claim that the just-ended voter’s registration exercise was successful.
He said the president engaged in cheap rhetoric in his address to the nation on Sunday, August 16.
President Akufo-Addo said regarding the registration exercise that it was “orderly, peaceful and safe”.
“On behalf of the people of Ghana, I congratulate warmly the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, her two Deputies, Dr. Eric Asare Bossman and Mr. Samuel Tettey, and the entire Commission for the efficient, safe, transparent nature of the registration exercise, where, for the first time in our nation’s history, Ghanaians were provided with daily updates of the numbers of eligible voters registered, together with specific age, gender, regional breakdowns, and breakdowns of identity documents.
“All eligible voters were given the unfettered opportunity to register, a process that was fully embraced by the mass of the citizenry. Of course, there were genuine and understandable concerns about conducting such a complex exercise, involving millions of citizens, at this time. But, at the end of the day, Ghanaians did their civic duty, by going out to register, having found that the process was overwhelmingly orderly, peaceful and safe.”
He added: “However, there were those who expressed various degrees of hysteria and negativity towards the exercise, with some, who swore heaven and earth to resist the compilation of the register at the peril of their lives, ending up registering. There were also those who offered delicate, personal sacrifices in the event of the register, again, ending up registering.
“And, there were those who claimed that, in the midst of a pandemic, the registration exercise should not be conducted, with some warning of an ‘explosion’ in our case count and very high numbers of deaths, should the exercise go ahead. By the grace of God, the work of the Electoral Commission, and the effective measures put in place by Government, these prophecies of doom did not materialise. There were, nonetheless, deeply regrettable, isolated incidents of violence, which I condemn unreservedly, and which I expect the Police to deal with without fear or favour, but the exercise was generally peaceful.
“The Ghanaian people have, by the conduct of this exercise, demonstrated our commitment, once again, to consolidating our status as a beacon of democracy on the continent and in the world. The professional Jeremiahs and naysayers, who seek, cynically, to make a profitable industry out of spreading falsehoods, fear and panic, stoking divisive, ethnic sentiments, underestimate the resolve and the determination of Ghanaians to build a united, democratic, peaceful, prosperous, and happy Ghana. We will continue to work hard to prove them wrong.”
Reacting to these comments by the president while speaking on Onua FM’s ‘Yen Nsem Pa’ morning show on Monday, NDC’s National Youth Organizer Opare Addo said the president failed to paint the true picture of the situation to the world.
He mentioned the military presence in some parts of the country just before the start of the registration and also the chaotic nature of attempts to prevent some persons suspected to be foreigners from registering as some indicators that the exercise was violent.
“I will describe the president in one word, that is dishonesty. The president is being dishonest with the people of this country. Nobody said they hated anyone but certain actions give credence to the fact that people are hated.
“Why is the military withdrawing from the Volta Region after the registration exercise? They told us before the registration that the military were there because of COVID, are we not still having COVID?
“The truth is that we all saw the videos of military brutalities. In Banda the soldiers brutalized our Ewe brothers and prevented them from registering. The president owe us an apology not this cheap rhetoric.”
By Sheena Pankani|3news.com|Ghana