NPP EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER HARRASSMENT

THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) has expressed concern over the alleged harassment of their polling agents at some registration centres in the Tamale metropolis. It has, therefore urged security personnel in the area to beef up their presence at those flashpoints.
The party also entreated officials of the Electoral Commission in the Northern Region to ensure that all eligible citizens were duly registered at the various designated centres in the region without any intimidation.
The National Youth Organiser of the NPP, Mr John Boadu, who was speaking in Tamale yesterday, expressed worries over what he described as a very low turn out at some centres.
He was addressing a press conference following claims of harassment of some NPP polling agents at the Kalpohini SDA Polling Station, which resulted in an alleged injury of one Abdul-Samed.
The organiser claimed that the party agents were attacked by some thugs after they attempted lodging a protest over the registration of some alleged minors during the registration exercise at the centre on Thursday.
Mr. Boadu indicated that the attackers were brought to the centre in a pickup with a registration number, GW 4137 J. He said the incident had since been reported to the police who were yet to effect an arrest.
However, he said, the victim had been handed a police medical form, and that he had since visited the Tamale Teaching Hospital for medication.
“If a registration exercise begins this way, then we can’t imagine what the election day would look like,” the organiser noted, adding that, “We had to restrain our members from retaliation, but our tolerance has limit when it comes to protecting ourselves.”
According to Mr Boadu, the NPP had always believed in the processes leading to free and fair elections, for which reason “we want to appeal to the security agents and the EC to be up and doing to ensure a violent-free exercise s this year”.
The Northern Regional Director of the EC, Mr Sylvester D. Kanyi, said centres in the metropolis had to be called off yesterday as a result of some disturbances.
He, however, explained that those centres were re-opened yesterday following a meeting between the commission and elders from those electoral areas.