Some voters in the Ho West Constituency of the Volta Region who are suspected to be foreigners failed to appear before a magistrate court where a case was filed against their eligibility to be registered as voters.
The voters, numbering about 130, were among a total of 171 persons challenged by some residents in the constituency during the just-ended nationwide exhibition of the voter register.
The residents claimed they were non-residents in their respective communities.
After several failed attempts to verify their residential status, the Electoral Commission (EC) was in court yesterday to seek permission to delete the names of the challenged persons at Gbadzeme and Togorme.
Interestingly, when the case was called at the Ho West Magistrate Court at Dzolokpuita, none of the challenged voters showed up, just as was the case during the review of the exhibition exercise.
To this end, the presiding judge adjourned the case until Friday, 19th August, 2016.
The court adjourned the case to allow the EC, which is mandated to delete the names of ineligible persons from the voter register, to provide evidence of having served the challenged persons with the notice and the subsequent deletion of their names.
During the proceedings, the EC pointed out that it had duly pasted notices at the various polling stations where the persons were challenged. However, after several searches in the various communities, consultations and interactions with chiefs and other residents, the challenged residents could not be traced.
To this end, the court requested evidence of such notices or a sworn affidavit to that effect to allow it properly adjudicate the matter.
NDC Presence
The case, which became talk of the town last Monday, attracted many people to the court, majority being members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The NDC members at the court included the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho West, Emmanuel Korsi Bedzra; Deputy Minister of Energy, Benjamin Dagadu, former EOCO boss; a senior member of the NDC, Biadela Mortey Akpadzie; regional and constituency executives, among others.
Mr Bedzra said that the party had taken interest in the matter because the case had a potential to disenfranchise some of his constituents.
He added that as an MP, he was there to also ensure that the CI 91 which guides the electoral process in Ghana was adhered to in order not to infringe on the human and electoral rights of his constituents.
Lawyer Emmanuel Ohene, who represented the two residents that challenged the voters in Gbadzeme and Togorme, noted that his clients followed due process.
From Fred Duodu, Dzolokpuita (freduoo@gmail.com)