The Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Serebour Quaicoe says activities of the Commission are exempted from the ban on public gatherings imposed on the country.
Speaking to Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Citi TV, Dr. Quaicoe said: “Our understanding is that it [the ban] doesn’t cover our activities. It is our understanding that it does not affect our operations. So as it is now, we can still go ahead. So that is our understanding,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo, in a national address on Sunday, March 15, 2020, banned all public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, church activities, and other related events as part of measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country.
At the time, Ghana had recorded six cases of COVID-19.
The President in that broadcast gave a caveat that private burials were permitted however mourners present must not exceed 25.
The National Identification Authority which was organising its Ghana Card registration exercise at the time was compelled to suspend the exercise.
In a related development, the Electoral Commission says it will begin the voter registration exercise next month, June 2020.
The exercise is expected to last till July 2020.
“The Commission has slated the registration exercise to begin from the last week of June to the end of July 2020. The exercise will start each day from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm. It will take place at all the 33,367 polling stations, which will serve as registration centres nationwide,” the Commission said in a statement.
As of Wednesday, May 27, 2020, Ghana has recorded 7,303 cases of the disease with 2,412 recoveries and 34 deaths.
The Greater Accra Region is still leading the chart with 5,148 cases, followed by the Ashanti and Central Regions with 1,099 and 334 cases respectively.
