There is a current rise of contract and or hired guarantors at several Electoral Commission registration centres across the country.
This was revealed by Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance For Christian Advocacy Africa, Rev. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong.
According to him, this formed part of observations made by the group, comprising about 100 pastors from various denominations and accredited by the Electoral Commission (EC) to monitor the registration process in selected centres nationwide.
Speaking to GhanaWeb in an interview, Rev. Opuni-Frimpong noted that this crop of persons (hired guarantors), visit registration centres on a daily basis, serving the purpose of guaranteeing other registrants who may not have the required documents for the exercise.
Though he cannot ascertain the basis or details of such contracts, the Presbyterian Minister noted that the trend is gradually gaining grounds.
“Some of the registrants come with Ghana Cards and others with their passports. Those without the required documents come with guarantors. But it seems some registrants look for guarantors at the polling stations and that is producing guarantor contractors. There are people at the stations who, when people need them, they just go with them, I don’t know the details of the contract whether they pay them when they need them. We get the impression they are hired guarantors,” he stated.
He was however emphatic about the competent role being played by the Electoral Commission and its officials to ensure a smooth process. Describing as ‘satisfactory’, their performance, he said, “The Electoral Commission has performed remarkably, executing everything it stated in the public education as it were.”
Rev. Opuni-Frimpong, who is also a member of the EC’s Eminent Advisory Committee expressed concern about the growing rate of violence being perpetrated by political actors in the registration exercise.
He called for a public prosecution of such individuals, whilst charging the law enforcement agencies to identify and thoroughly investigate such cases without fear and favour.
The Alliance For Christian Advocacy Africa has been accredited by the Electoral Commission to monitor the ongoing voters registration in 6 regions. These include; Greater Accra, Eastern, Volta, Bono, Ashanti and Northern regions. With 100 pastors from different denominations, some 520 polling stations have been monitored as at July 19, 2020 in 75 constituencies.