If you kill people, is it the register that will go and vote? - Charles Owusu quizzes

Head of the Monitoring Unit of the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu, has advised Ghanaian electorates not to follow irresponsible comments by politicians to shed blood during the impending new voters' registration exercise.

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) will at the end of June this year commence a registraion exercise aimed at compiling a new voters' register.

The EC has announced the Ghana card and passport as the only legal documents acceptable for registering the names of eligible Ghanaians onto the new register but the decision has been met with strong opposition from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and members of a group called IPRAN.

They claim the EC is using the Ghana card and passport as an opportunity to disenfranchise about 11 million Ghanaians and to rig the December polls for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Although the EC has refuted the claims insisting that the two legal requirements are to help eliminate all unqualified names onto the new register.

Despite the EC's defense, a leader of IPRAN, Bernard Mornah purportedly cautioned against the registration exercise should the Commission fail to address their concerns.

He is quoted as saying ''people who are already Ghanaians and already registered are going to be taken out of the register, don't you think confusion will come at the registration and if confusion come there, you think the EC staff will be safe, we will beat each other there, we will kill each other there if that is what the EC want to lead this nation to''.

Following Mr. Mornah's comments, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service invited him for interrogation.



Addressing the issue on ''Kokrokoo'' on Peace FM, Charles Owusu reprimanded all who have in one way or the other tended to instigate the masses to engage in a riot asking; ''If you kill people, is it the voters' register that will go and vote?''

He advised Ghanaians not to blindly follow politicians and political parties saying ''it is paramount to know that we serve the nation and not political parties. We are not existing because of political parties but the country. When Ghana develops, it benefits us all''.