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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has appealed to the general public to disregard the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and their flagbearer's allegations that the ruling party is intimidating people in order to prevent them from participating in the voter registration exercise.

The General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, in a video circulating on social media, has alleged that some military officers deployed to maintain peace in the Banda constituency after a fracas which led to the death of one person are rather preventing the people in the constituency to partake in the registration exercise.

Asiedu Nketia's allegations follow several accusations by members and leadership of the NDC that the Akufo-Addo government was doing everything possible to ensure some people, particularly residents in the Volta Region, are disenfranchised.

The party's flagbearer and former President, John Dramani Mahama also shares similar sentiments.

But the NPP leadership, speaking at a press conference at Alisa Hotel in Accra, says the former President and his NDC are the ones rather inciting their grass roots against the security forces.

According to the party, the ploy by the NDC is to get their grass roots to cower the security forces from doing their legitimate work, so that they can use foul means to populate the voter register.

''The military were deployed months ago to patrol all our borders for a variety of security-related reasons.  The numbers were even greater along our northern borders than the south east. There were no complaints. John Mahama is using this reckless ploy to try to motivate the NDC’s grassroots, cower the security agents from doing their legitimate job so that the NDC can employ foul means to populate the register'', they stated.

Describing the NDC agenda as ''hate-for-votes'', they argued that no attempts have been made to disenfrachise residents in the Volta Region, hence revealing over 800000 Voltarians have so far registered their names and received their voters' ID card.

''Ladies and Gentlemen, Is it true that Voltarians are really being disenfranchised? The facts say NO, they’re not! As at the end of Phase 5 of the registration exercise after 30 days, 816,069 people had registered in the Volta Region alone as against the 2019  regional voters register of 999,368. Indeed, on a national average, registration in Volta Region, particularly, in Ketu South, has been among the highest in the country. 

''As against the 2019 register, Greater Accra has performed the best across all regions of the country, followed by Upper West, Northern, Central, Savannah (John Mahama’s own region), followed by Bono, Bono East, Western, Volta before Eastern. Where is the discrimination? Are the people of Savannah facing discrimination? What about the Northern Region? Are the Krobos and Ewes in Eastern Region, specifically the Abuakwa areas, complaining about discrimination? Have they not lived there for decades and is that not where Akufo-Addo comes from? Please, let us not allow John Mahama to fool us with his hate-for-votes agenda.''  

The NPP also advised the public not to ''confuse the genuine efforts to police the borders throughout the country to mean that the NPP is against anyone.  Elections in Ghana are for Ghanaians.  Yet, as we speak, a number of Togolese and Nigerians have either been convicted or have their cases pending at the Keta circuit court charged with registering for a voter ID card''.