Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has cautioned parents and guardians to resist the temptation to get their underaged children to register in the ongoing Limited Voter Registration exercise being undertaken by the Electoral Commission.
Speaking during visits to Registration Centres in the Greater Accra and Central Regions on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, Dr Bawumia warned that both the parents and children could suffer legal and other consequences for entering the register before they are qualified to do so.
“We have received reports from across the country of attempts to register minors in the ongoing Limited Registration Exercise. This is very worrying.
“Apart from the illegality of such efforts, it also amounts to endangering the lives of these children, because if they enter the national records with the wrong age, it will have an effect on them throughout their lives. It means, for instance, that they will be going on retirement before their actual age. They may not benefit from policies or programmes specifically designed to meet the needs of the youth. And it may have other unforeseen consequences”, he warned.
Dr Bawumia, who suspended his nationwide engagement with NPP Delegates on 23rd September, 2023 to enable the party concentrate fully on the Registration exercise, emphasized the need for a clean and credible register for the 2024 general elections and beyond
“The Constitution guarantees every Ghanaian of the right age and sound mind the right to vote. I would therefore like to urge all stakeholders- parents, guardians, new registrants, parties – to cooperate with officials of the Electoral Commission to have a smooth and incident-free exercise to produce a register we can all be proud of.
“I would also like to thank officials of the EC for the great work they have done so far, despite the initial challenges,” he added.