'Disenfranchised' security men to boycott Dec 7 duties

Some security personnel, mostly military men in Kumasi who could not find their names on the list of Early Voters and so could not vote today [December 1] have indicated they will boycott official duties outside of their constituencies on Election Day.

They would rather prefer being assigned duties close to where they registered so that they can also vote on Election Day.

In separate interviews with Graphic Online, they argued that there was no justification for losing their civic responsibilities guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution to cast their ballot for no fault of theirs during Election Day and that they will boycott all activities and vote to select a president and a Member of Parliament (MP) of their choice.

At the Ashanti Regional Police Headquarters in Kumasi where voters from the Subin constituency were voting on Thursday, many military personnel could not find their names in the register and so could not vote.

Some of them told Graphic Online they visited as many as seven constituencies and still did not find their names.

They said they submitted their names for the special voting [Early Voting] as directed by the military command because they knew they would be engaged in special duties on the Election Day.

They threatened to boycott Election Day duties if they realise that it was going to disenfranchise them.

One police woman who had just been transferred to Kumasi, said she had applied for a transfer of vote and was assured of casting her vote at Subin only to be told that she has to go back to Accra to cast her ballot.

At Patasi, also in Kumasi a police officer stationed at Nyinahini said though he registered at Atwima Mponua and requested to cast his special ballot at the same constituency, he could not find his name and had to travel to Patasi where he thought he could vote but his name was not on the list.

He told Graphic Online he was just praying that his name would be on the Atwima Mponua Constituency list and he would be offered the opportunity by his bosses to cast his vote on Election Day December 7.

Meanwhile the Ashanti Regional Director of the EC, Mr Serebuor Quaicoo thinks that many people could not find their names because they sent wrong details, selected a different constituency from where they originally registered or did not apply properly for the special voting [Early Voting].

Mr Quaicoo noted that some people could not find their names because although they submitted their names to their organisations, such names were not forwarded to the EC.

The Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NPP, Mr Sam Pyne on his part thinks that the omissions was a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise some particular persons.