The East Mamprusi District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP Jose Sanze, chairman of the East Mamprusi District Security Task Force Committee task force has reminded citizens at one of the a meeting with  opinion leaders held at Gambaga that no person or group of persons is allowed to organize a rally or public gathering without first writing to the police five days before the event for permission.

He said the police will be extra vigilant on December 07 thus any person in possession of offensive weapons with the intent to causing chaos will be arrested and made to face the law squarely.  
 
ASP Sanze further advised all to desist from taking the law in their own hands but rather report any irregularities at polling stations to the police for appropriate action to be executed.
 
The East Mamprusi District Director of the EC, Mr A A  Osman reminded the electorate that voting begins at 7:00am and that no one should deliberately wait and do last-minute voting since the EC will adhere strictly to the time schedule.
 
According the EC director, all party functionaries and polling agents will be briefed on what is expected of them on Election Day in order for all to conduct themselves according to laid down electoral regulations.

He stated that his office will declare the parliamentary results after collating figures from all polling stations whilst that of presidential will be sent to the EC head office in Accra for onward declaration.
 
To allay the fears of some political parties which suspect the EC’s staff to be bias, Mr Osman declared “the EC has never cheated any party and does not intend to cheat any party for the other”. He also advised people against multiple voting adding “after casting your vote, don’t loiter about the polling station”.
 
A staff of the NCCE, Mr Yidana Abdulai advised all political parties to choose only people who can read and write as their party agents so that they will be able to record electoral proceedings correctly. This will eliminate misunderstanding among parties.
 
Mr Tia Missim , EC officer said as far as a voter in question does not have the electoral stain on his or her finger, such a voter will be allowed to vote even if his/her  name has already been ticked as voted. 

Mr Missim also indicated that EC has refashioned most of the electoral rules to further strenthen the credibility of the voting process. For instance a ballot cast with the thumb print on a candidate’s portrait will be considered valid unlike in previous polls.
 
At a similar meeting in Nalerigu, an assemblyman for Zarifong, Mr Mahami Sumani cautioned the EC to devote particular attention to returning officers so that all ballot boxes are returned in time to the EC since delays will breed suspicion as to whether or not extra ballots could be added.
 
The membership of the committee comprises the Ghana Prisons and Police Services, the Information Services Department, the Electoral Commission [EC], the National Commission for Civic Education [NCCE] and the District

Assembly. A total of five meetings were held with stakeholders at Sakogu, Gbintri, Lagbensi, Gambaga and Nalerigu.

The main objective of the task force is to meet and hold discussions with opinion leaders including assembly persons, traditional heads, religious bodies and political party representatives with the view to identifying flashpoints and concerns that are likely to compromise peace and order during the elections and aftermath.

Source: ISD (Peter Atogewe Wedam, Gambaga)
Posted: 28/11/08

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