The four-day operation is intended to guide the EC to identify shortcomings and make amends before the actual registration which is scheduled to take off towards the end of March.
The exercise, which ends tomorrow, is being carried out in two centres of each of the 10 regions of the country.
Some eligible voters who turned up for the exercise, in their excitement, expected to be issued with ID cards but were told that was not the case with a pilot exercise, as those who graced the pilot programme are required to go for the actual registration when it commences next month.
At the Accra centre located in the Roman Catholic Church’s St. Kizito School, Nima, last Saturday, DAILY GUIDE spotted a number of eligible voters going through the process.
The EC personnel were seen answering questions when these arose, with Ernest Ametepe, the Ayawaso East District Supervisor of the registration exercise in particular explaining what the whole pilot segment entails.
As at the time DAILY GUIDE visited the registration venue at St. Kizito School around 12.40pm on Saturday, some 45 persons had gone through the pilot registration process, with 17 in a queue waiting to take their turn.
A marked feature of those partaking in the exercise at the time of the visit showed them as being aged and by the 6.00pm deadline, the number of those registering had appreciated to 81.
Only the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had representatives at the location when DAILY GUIDE visited.
Hon. Akosua Frema Osei Opare, MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, was spotted on the second day of the pilot registration after going through the exercise.
“I was told by my district officer about the exercise taking place in Nima so I moved to the place so that at the end of it I can educate people about what it is all about. The process took about 20 minutes. I was however not allowed to take the card away even though it was showed to me. I would advise those going to register to press their fingers against the gadget well, otherwise it would not register,” she said.
According to her, there is no complication about it, likening it to the procedures involved in the national identification process. “There is nothing complicated about the procedure and I entreat all Ghanaians to come out in their numbers to undertake the exercise when the time is due next month.”
Similar exercises have been replicated in the other regions. In the Northern Region, it is being held at the Kamina Barracks Primary School, Tamale and the Tali RC Primary School in the Tolon/Kumbungu District.
Eastern Region
From all indications, the actual registration will see a massive turnout and possibly reflect in the general elections in December, Thomas Fosu Jnr, reports from Koforidua.
The pilot registration in the Eastern Region which started on Saturday in the New Juaben municipality and Akyemmansa district has seen good patronage as if the actual registration was taking place.
On Saturday, before officials set up their computers, digital cameras and fingerprint scanners to start the exercise at the Jackson Park in Koforidua, which is the venue for the pilot registration in the New Juaben municipality, a lot of people had congregated there to go through the process.
At the close of the first day on Saturday, 126 people registered.
Some political observers however said the registration procedure was too slow even though averagely it took 10 minutes for a voter to be registered and issued with an identity card.
After the pilot registration, the ID card is collected back from the applicant.
DAILY GUIDE visited the registration centre yesterday at around midday and the process was moving on steadily.
The regional director of EC, Paul Boateng, expressed satisfaction with the exercise.
He however said they were having problems with the quality of picture because of the positioning of the cameras and now everything has been rectified and the pictures are okay.
The regional youth organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Frank Annor Dompreh, who was going through the registration process at the time DAILY GUIDE visited the centre, expressed concern at the rate at which people were being registered.
He also expressed concern about the quality of the pictures and called on the EC to improve the picture quality so that voters can easily be identified.
At Akyemmansa, DAILY GUIDE learnt that the registration process was also smooth with a lot of prospective voters showing keen interest to register.
Upper East
In the Upper East Region, Ebo Bruce-Quansah reports from Bolgatanga that the registration exercise is taking place in the municipality and Zebilla in the Bawku West district.
Bolgatanga is representing the urban center and Zebilla, the rural center.
Officials of the Electoral Commission said the exercise has been peaceful and interesting as residents in both areas are eager to go through the exercise.
At the Zamse Senior High School in Bolgatanga, a registration officer, Clement Onmeba, said 42 persons went through the exercise on the first day, Saturday and 64 were registered on Sunday as at 3pm.
At Zebilla in the Bawku West District, the Deputy Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Boscos Azu, told DAILY GUIDE that 65 persons went through the pilot exercise on the opening day and as at 3pm on the second day, a total of 70 persons had gone through it. A person going through the exercise starts from a personal data collection point, and then moves to a point where the finger prints and picture are taken.
Mostly, it is the second point that takes a lot of time, especially when the person being registered has traumatized fingers. Traumatized finger could be as a result of injury or natural defect.
If the person has temporary traumatized fingers as a result of palm peeling, it will take a longer time for the machine to get the ridges of the finger print and to accept it.
It takes an average of 10 minutes to go through the process.
The Deputy Regional Director of the Electoral Commission said there are measures to handle persons with deformed fingers as well as amputees.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): A.R. Gomda
Quelle/Source: Daily Guide Ghana, 27.02.2012
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