Nana’s COVID-19 Rules Abandoned… At Voter Registration Centres

The Electoral Commission (EC) nationwide compilation of a new voters roll, has completely disregard the COVID-19 protocols.

Day before start of the exercise, the Commission had maintained that about 7,000 health assistants have been released by the Ghana Health Service to help ensure that the necessary Covid-19 safety protocols are adhered to at the various clusters.

But this arrangement only existed on paper as reports across the country indicates that there were blatant disregard for the COVID rules as registration progressed.

According to the Commission, the exercise will be held at about 6.788 clusters made up of five registration centres each.

This means a total of 33,367 registration centres will be situated within the country.

The exercise is expected to be conducted in phases, each spanning six days.

In the Northern Regional capital, Tamale, reports are that various registration centres in the regional have been poorly set up as the COVID-19 protocols are not being observed.

At the Kalpohini Anglican Center in the Tamale North constituency reports were that social distancing is not observed.

Reports also indicated that water in the veronica bucket was finished without a refill; registration machines are slow with just few people wearing face masks.

At the Bishop’s RC Center in the Sagnarigu constituency, the situation is not different,” the veronica bucket provided had no cover and therefore is not in use. After few hours of checking people’s temperature, the nurse also stopped.”

At Ketu South Municipality in the Volta Region, Electoral Commission officials at the Akuse Park registration centre were struggling to control the scores of residents who have stormed the centre for registration.

According to reports the residents were jostling over positions in the queue.

Although, there was a Veronica bucket and health officials deployed to screen the applicants, adherence to the social distancing protocol is poor as the electoral officials struggle to control the enthusiastic crowd.

Two voter ID applicants have also were arrested for not wearing nose mask at a registration centre in Koforidua in the Eastern region.

The arrest was effected on the orders of the Koforidua-Effiduase District Police Commander S.A Young at a Polling Station in Ogua Electoral Area in the New Juaben North Constituency.

At the Odododiodoo Constituency in Accra, there was again, total disregard for the much talked about social distancing protocols.

Some applicants were spotted without nose masks while others sat close to one another as though the country was in normal times.

Others who opted to wear the nose masks had pushed it from their mouth and nose to their chin.

At the Tourist Information Centre, scores of people sat on the walls of the Centre without adhering to the COVID-19 protocols.

The total breach of the COVID-19 protocols was not different from other parts of the country.

In the Sabulu electoral area in Nima for example, one Registration officer, Alex Kwame Aklade, said all efforts to make the registrants observe the social distancing directive have been ignored.

“They are humans. One way or the other, they flout the rules, but we still talk to them,” he told Citi News.

“The policemen are also here to support us… I will talk to him to make sure they abide by the rules; social distancing and the other things,” he added.

In some registration centers in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, some children who had queued on behalf of their parents were sent home.

Officials at the Centre said the children who were not in nose masks are prone to attracting the virus  .