Long queues persist at centres

Page 55
07-08-08

LARGE numbers of people continue to form long queues at the various registration centres in Accra seven days into the voters registration exercise.
Some prospective voters interviewed at several registration centres in the city cited the slow pace of the registration exercise and shortage of materials as some of the reasons for the long queues.
Long winding queues of tired and frustrated prospective voters were the scenes that greeted Daily Graphic reporters during a tour of some centres.
Most registration centres were without any comfortable seating areas and waiting proved very tiring for the eager applicants. The resultant stress generated petty quarrels, irritation and fights.
Some of the applicants who were in the queues as of 2 pm said they had been in the queues since dawn.
At the St Mark Methodist Church at Darkuman, where there was very large number of people , an applicant, Mary Prempeh, said she had been at the centre since 4 a.m.
“Today is the third time I have been here [at the registration centre] and the occasional shortage of materials has been slowing the process of registering,” she said in Akan.
The registration officer at the centre, Mr Benjamin Sarbah, said the centre was serving 24 polling stations, hence the large number of people.
He said there were materials for the exercise, saying that 1,250 people had been registered as of Tuesday.
At the Dansoman Police Station, the Daily Graphic team also spotted long winding queues of frustrated applicants.
The registration officer there, Mrs Victoria Akuboa, said she had registered 1,411 people as of yesterday, and blamed the long queues on registered voters who wanted to register again as result of change of residence.
“I have been able to identify some of them and they have confessed,” she said.