Kumasi: Tight security at registration centers

SECURITY WAS very tight at almost all the registration centers in the Ashanti Region yesterday, when the nationwide voter registration exercise kick-started.

A team of military personnel, who were dressed in a warlike fashion, were seen patrolling the various registration centers, especially places that have been earmarked as hot spots.

Aside the significant armed military presence in the Region, notably Kumasi, heavily armed policemen, were strategically stationed at the various registration centers to provide security.

Peaceful Process

The registration exercise was generally peaceful in the Ashanti Region, especially on the first day, and the positive development has been attributed to the tight security provided.

Virtually, all the people that came out to register comported themselves very well. The usual fighting, casting of insinuations and insults that characterised such events were missing yesterday.

Drama At Centers

Interestingly, some dramatic moments emerged at some of the registration centers, where some people used stones of different sizes to represent them in the long queues.

At some of the registration centers, some of the people also used their children, who are minors and below 10 years, to represent them in the long queues.

Partisan Politics Missing

One significant occurrence at the event was the fact that political activities, which could easily spark anger, were missing in all the registration centers.

The Electoral Commission (EC) officials were granted their peace to work without any major interference or external pressure from any quarters.

Few Setbacks

However, there were some few setbacks as some of the machines, which looked very new, developed faults, delaying the registration processes for a while.

The registration exercise, which is being done in clusters in the various constituencies, continues at all the centers today.