Minister warns machomen to stay away … Says EC has adequate curity arrangements

By:  Sebastian R. Freiku, Kumasi

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah has given an assurance that adequate security arrangements had been put in place to ensure a successful biometric registration exercise in the region.
He said, in line with the President’s avowed quest for peace to prevail before, during and after the 2012 general elections, the Electoral Commission (EC) had ensured adequate security arrangements for the registration exercise across the country.
The Regional Minister, who spoke on Hello FM, a local radio station during its “AKOKOABON” political talk show last Saturday, when the biometric registration exercise commenced in some parts of the region, advised machomen to stay clear of the registration centres.
Dr. Agyemang-Mensah further advised the general public to avoid unnecessary confrontations and actions that could mar the success of the exercise. He said any aggrieved party should resort to challenge forms provided by the EC in protest, without necessarily creating any confusion to hold up the smoothness of the exercise.
However, in apparent reaction to the Regional Minister’s assurance, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Asokwa, has expressed his doubts about confidence in the   security agencies.
Kofi Ghana, as he is popularly known, said on the same network that he did hot have no full confidence in the work of the security services, particularly, the police and Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
He said until they (security services) prove their worth, he would continue to doubt their integrity.
The Asokwa MP has, therefore, called for vigilance by members of the public, and urged all eligible voters to take advantage of the biometric exercise and register in their numbers, because, as he put it, that was the only guarantee to ensure massive voting for the NPP in the 2012 elections.
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, alias Sir John, has condemned special registration arrangements by the EC in the regions.
He has urged eligible voters to register, even if it takes a fortune to get enfranchised.
He said the on-going biometric exercise was about the future of the youth and the destiny of the country as a democratic sovereignty.

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