THE nation-wide pilot biometric voters registration exercise has so far progressed steadily without any major hitches, Electoral Commission (EC) officials have stated.
According to the Head of the Public Relations Unit at the EC, Mr Christian Owusu Parry, some minor challenges were, however, recorded in the Wa municipality in the Upper West Region.
Those, he said, arose as a result of the exposure of the registration to excessive heat from the scorching sun, due to the fact that the exercise was conducted in the open, coupled with participants’ inability to provide accurate data for the exercise.
He said the equipment, made up of a computer, a fingerprint scanner, an external battery and hand scanners, had been malfunctional at a point because the exercise had been carried out in the open, thereby exposing the kits.
The exercise, expected to end today ahead of the March 24, 2012 date set for the actual registration, had so far seen quite a considerable number of people participating, he said.
“Majority of participants were not able to provide accurate information on personal data such as residential address and addresses of their places of birth that were required for the exercise, thereby slowing down the entire process,” Mr Owusu Parry said.
He said the pilot exercise, which is meant to test the ability of the kits, was also meant to give the public an insight into biometric registration.
He expressed worry at the directive of the Ghana Education Service (GES) banning teachers from assisting the EC to undertake the exercise and debunked suggestions that teachers’ participation was likely to disrupt the academic calender, while impacting negatively on teaching and learning.
He said the EC was open to dialogue with the Ministry of Education and the GES on the development.
From Koforidua, A. Kofoya Tetteh reports that the pilot exercise, being undertaken at the Jackson Park in the New Juaben municipality and the Abenase Presbyterian Primary School in the Akyemmansa District in the Eastern Region, has so far been very successful.
The EC, in its bid to entice people to participate in the pilot exercise, gave out T-shirts free of charge to anyone who turned up for the exercise on Saturday.
According to the Deputy Eastern Regional Director of the EC, Mr Eric Mensah-Bonsu, the most significant aspect of the exercise was the detection of double registration.
He said those who got involved in double registration within a cluster were easily detected and explained that any double registration involving different clusters would be detected at the EC head office in Accra.
Mr Mensah-Bonsu, therefore, assured the public, especially leaders of the political parties, that this year’s general election would be devoid of double registration.
From Takoradi, Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu reports that the exercise is underway in the Ellembelle District and the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis of the Western Region.
The programme, which started last Saturday, is to enable the EC to identify any anticipated problems before the real date for the actual registration.
The Western Regional Director of the EC, Mr Opoku Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that the exercise had been devoid of the usual confrontation and agitation that characterised similar exercises.
He said the focus was to ensure that during the period of the piloting, problems would be identified and resolved before the registration itself.
Benjamin Xornam Glover reports from Bolgatanga that the exercise took off smoothly in the Bolgatanga municipality of the Upper East Region.
At the Zawde Senior High Technical School centre where the exercise took place, officers of the EC were on hand to explain and take registrants through the process.
Mr Oscar Apeman Bahai, an official of the EC in charge of the municipality, told this reporter that so far the process had been very successful.
He said initially the sun’s rays hindered the device for capturing data of registrants but since they relocated to a shed, the device was now working to perfection.
He indicated that amputees, the blind, lepers, as well as those with missing fingers, had been catered for under the pilot phase of the exercise.
From Tamale, Nuredeen Salifu reports that the exercise which took place on the premises of the Dakota Technical/Vocational Institute in Tamale and the Talia R/C Primary School in the Tolon/Kumbungu District ,saw the scanning machines rejecting people whose hands were dirty.
According to a Deputy Director of the EC in the region, Mr Godwin Tawsha, the EC was hoping to capture about 1,000 applicants in the region by the end of the pilot exercise on Tuesday, February 28, 2012.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue Feb 28, 2012
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