No Bloated Register in Ketu South

I write this today as the native of Aflao and Constituency Secretary of Ketu South NDC who have sworn to garner 120,000 Ghana votes for the National Democratic Congress in Ketu South. This was the target after our election on this day, August 29, 2014. The target is based on the conviction that National Democratic Congress remains the safest political party that can protect the people of Ketu South.
I stand on that platform to brief you on the allegation that Togolese are on our Voter's Register in Ketu South hence a percentage increase of 28% from 2008 to 2012. I also want to address the allegations being thrown all over by the Disappointed Youth. You are all aware that a group of young men calling themselves DISAPPOINTED YOUTH OF NDC are moving from one radio station to the other in Accra alleging that they were contracted by the Constituency Executives in Ketu South to go and register Togolese.
Read this.

The MAP is the Constituency MAP of Ghana. The constituencies coloured Green are the constituencies whose percentage increase in the number of registered voters is more than or equal to 28.87% (that of Ketu South). There are 20 of these constituencies.

Only three (3) of them are border constituencies: PUSIGA , NKWANTA NORTH AND KETU SOUTH.
Afigya Kwabre South (Kodie) in the Ashanti Region had 42.90% jump in the number of registered voters between 2008 and 2012. NPP won there. Incredible. Upper Denkyira West in Central Region had over 44% increase. NPP won this seat in 2012. Yendi in the Northern Region had almost 51% increase. NPP won there in 2012.
The question is, if a 28% jump in the number of voters in Ketu South is as a result of Togolese crossing the border to come and register, can Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia and the NPP explain to all of us what caused these astronomical and bizarre increases in the constituencies like Yendi , Upper Denkyira and Afigya Kwabre West? These three constituencies are not border constituencies.

There is a clear hatred for Ketu South people and I am not surprised at all for Bawumia’s naked attack on the Ketu South Constituency. I have been motivated to even work harder for the NDC and the President of the Republic and all party members are charged to work hard to shock Dr. Bawumia and his boss in 2016. Ketu South NDC will like to assure Dr. PINKSHEET and his party that Ghanaians in Togo, Benin and Nigeria will now come in their numbers to register. No law in this country bars a Ghanaian by birth to register and vote in their beloved country.

THE DISAPPOINTED YOUTH

These boys applied through the Regional Police in Ho to demonstrate in Ketu South. We issued a statement reminding them of the consequence if they dare use the name NDC to denigrate our beloved party. The Police Command in Aflao weighing the security situation in the area quickly moved to Court to lay an Injunction on them. They are still disappointed.
They have since vamoosed only to reappear after the Alisa Hotel Conference by Nana Akufo Addo amd Dr. Bawumia . In Ketu South NDC, these boys WERE NOT known.

NO CONTRACT TO REGISTER TOGOLESE

We never contracted any party person to bring in Togolese to register in Aflao. I was the Constituency Youth Organizer, now the Secretary and I can boldly say we have never contracted people to register Togolese and WE SHALL NOT DO IT IN FUTURE. Our sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces etc. who are Ghanaians by BIRTH but resident in Togo only come to register and vote . Whoever alleges that he went to Togo, registered Togolese or he brought in Togolese to register should be arrested and the law should be made to go its full length. If these boys truly believe their allegation has an iota of truth, why should they only go to Accra to make the noise? There are five radio stations in Ketu South. They should have been very bold enough to make the allegation in Aflao, the same way they did when they were planning to demonstrate in Aflao few weeks ago. This is a fabrication of gargantuan proportion.

WHO QUALIFIES TO REGISTER AND VOTE IN GHANA?

I will rely on The Provisional National Defence Decree, Representation of the People Law, 1992 (PNDL 284) Section 7—Qualification of Voters
(1) A person qualifies to be registered as a voter if—
(a) he is a citizen of Ghana of eighteen years of age or above; and
(b) he is of sound mind; and
(c) he is resident in the polling division; and
(d) he is not otherwise disqualified to be registered as a voter by any law for the time being in force.
Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution which is the supreme law of the land states “Every citizen of Ghana of eighteen years of age or above and of sound mind has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda”.

SO WHO IS A GHANAIAN?
I will plead to reproduce some relevant portions of the Citizenship Act, Act 591.

Section 1 —Continuation of Existing Citizenship Every person who on the coming into force of the Constitution was a citizen of Ghana by law shall continue to be a citizen of Ghana.

Section 2 —Ascertainment of the Law Applicable to Citizenship by Birth For ease of ascertaining the law on Ghanaian citizenship by birth, the applicable provisions are in this Part restated.

Section 3—Persons Born before 6/3/57 (1) A person born before 6th March 1957 is a citizen of Ghana by birth if— (a) he was born in Ghana and at least one of his parents or grandparents was born in Ghana; or (b) he was born outside Ghana and one of his parents was born in Ghana.

Section 4—Persons Born on or after 6/3/57 but before 22/8/69 (1) A person born on or after 6th March 1957 and before 22nd August 1969 is a citizen of Ghana by birth if— (a) he was born in or outside Ghana and either of his parents, and also one at least of his grandparents or great-grandparents, was born in Ghana;
or (b) in the case of a person born in Ghana neither of whose parents was born in Ghana, at least one of his grandparents was born in Ghana.

(2) A person is not a citizen of Ghana for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section if at the time of his birth the parent, grandparent or great-grandparent through whom the citizenship is claimed has lost his citizenship of Ghana.

(3) A person born on or after 6th March 1957 and before 22nd August 1969 is a citizen of Ghana by birth if— (a) he was born in Ghana and at the time of his birth either of his parents was a citizen of Ghana by registration or naturalization; or (b) he was born outside Ghana and at the time of his birth both of his parents were citizens of Ghana by registration or naturalization.

Section 5—Persons Born on or after 22/8/69—Constitution 1969 A person is a citizen of Ghana by birth if he was born in or outside Ghana on or after 22nd August 1969 and before 24th September 1979 and at the date of his birth either of his parents was a citizen of Ghana.

Section 6—Persons Born on or after 24/9/79—Constitution 1979 A person born on or after 24th September 1979 and before 7th January 1993 is a citizen of Ghana by birth if— (a) he was born in Ghana and at the date of his birth either of his parents or one grandparent was a citizen of Ghana; or (b) he was born outside Ghana and at the date of his birth either of his parents was a citizen of Ghana.

Section 7—Persons Born on or after 7/1/93—Constitution 1992 A person is a citizen of Ghana by birth if he was born on 7th January 1993 or born after that date in or outside Ghana and at the date of his birth either of his parents or one grandparent was or is a citizen of Ghana. Section

8—Foundlings A child of not more than seven years of age found in Ghana whose parents are not known shall be presumed to be a citizen of Ghana by birth.

The 1992 Constitution in Article 6 cemented the sections provided above in the Citizenship Act.

One can acquire Citizenship by Adoption and Registration and these are recognized by our Constitution.

NATIVES OF AFLAO GHANA IN TOGO CAN VOTE IN GHANA
Subject to the above quotations from Act 591, I will spend few minutes to explain very nice special cases.

I am a citizen of Ghana by birth. I picked my Polling Station Register for a brief study. I put down the names of my direct family members with the surname NUKUNU. The register has seventeen. Some are my direct aunties. Out of the seventeen , five of them are residing in Togo, about 170 metres away from our home. They are Ghanaians by birth. Some have children. Some of their children are already eighteen years of age. In the next limited biometric registration, they will come and register at the polling station where I vote. Now let me ask you the reader…. IS THERE ANY LAW THAT BARS THESE CHILDREN FROM REGISTERING AND VOTING IN GHANA…..?

They do not need any special qualification to register as a voter in Ghana.

I have three Ghanaian friends in Europe and Americas who are voters in Ghana. They always come down to vote.
The same law that allows Ghanaians to fly from Mexico, France, Britain etc. to vote in Ghana should be applied to Ghanaians in Togo, Benin, Nigeria etc.

I have done another check on the Voter Register in my electoral area. I put down the names of the two front runners in the incoming Assembly elections to be on Tuesday , September 1,2015.
I wanted to check if the front runners have their direct relatives in the EC Register. What I discovered was so revealing. The two leading contenders have direct family relatives numbering 107. Out of this number, 20 are in Togo, in fact, 170 to 250 metres away from their houses. In one case, three relatives are about 150 metres.

They prefer to be on the other side of the border for economic reasons. It does not mean they are not Ghanaians. They are Ghanaians by birth. You can come from West Mamprusi, Akyem and Kumasi and muddy the waters because you are completely ignorant of our situation.

Who at my polling station will stop these 20 people from registering and voting in Ghana?
Not even the agents of Nana Addo in 2016 Elections can attempt it!!!

PLAN FOR 2016 PARLIAMENTARY AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
I want to inform the general public that we have opened nominations for both Parliamentary and Presidential Primaries. Ketu South NDC wants to garner over 120,000 votes for the President of the Republic in the 2016 Elections and no amount of propaganda from Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, Disappointed Youth and some local neophytes will stop us from achieving that. Some have picked the forms already. I expect more to pick and file. I am expecting some to start filing from Sunday , August 30 or Monday.

The Primaries at the Constituency Level will no longer be 4 per branch delegate system. Now, every card bearing member shall have the mandate to decide who becomes the Parliamentary Candidate.

At the presidential level, The President of the Republic may go unopposed.

SPECIAL APPEAL
Our chiefs are not partisan but when a political party viciously and deliberately want to disintegrate our kingdom, we have no option but to make an appeal to the Paramouncies to reflect.

We in Ketu South are either Aflao or Somey or Klikor and we cannot deny the fact that a lot of our direct brothers and sisters are in Togo.
They are Ghanaians by birth but resident in Togo.
Should we sit down for Dr. Bawumia and some money – loving boys to describe our siblings in Togo as non-Ghanaians?

The impudence at which they are making the statement is what is most desecrating.

Once we can establish that our people are Ghanaians by birth, NOT EVEN A BULLDOZER WILL BLOCK OUR WAY. But I see the Togolese label and tag by the NPP and some radio presenters as a threat to our kingdom...
Serious threat to our kingdom unless we don't really appreciate the effects of the vile attack on us.

APPRECIATION
I want to thank all citizens of Aflao and Ketu South for remaining calm amidst provocations. The truth of the matter is Ghanaians in Togo voted, they will vote in this District Assembly Elections and in future. Those who failed to register will come and register for the 2016 elections Our register is not bloated.

Thank you very much

Source: Foga Desdeddy Nukunu, Ketu South Constituency Secretary of NDC