Otumfuo, Asantehemaa, Lady Julia cast their votes

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei II, accompanied by his wife, Lady Julia, yesterday cast their votes at the Manhyia Palace Polling Station in the Manhyia South Constituency in Kumasi.

The royal couple was led to the polling station by the Manhyia Protocol Officer, Mr. Saahene, some few minutes before noon to go through the electoral procedures, including observing the Coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols before casting their votes.

The Asantehemaa, Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III, also trailed the Asantehene and Lady Julia shortly to cast her vote in the same manner. About 175 votes had been cast at the Manhyia Palace polling station as at noon on the polling day.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia South, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and the Mayor of Kumasi, Osei Assibey Antwi, who had earlier cast their ballots at the Apagyafie Polling Station (Manhyia South) and Amazing Grace Polling Station (Oforikrom Constituency) respectively, accompanied the Asantehene to exercise his civic responsibility in the polls to the admiration of onlookers.

Richard Owusu Akyaw also reports that voting procedures in the Ashanti Region were smooth, with a few polling stations recording infractions because there were no peace officers there in the morning. These polling stations are Manhyia Efekesemu and Ash Town SDA.

In a visit to Kanako (A) Polling Station in the Asawase Constituency, Mr. David Doe, Presiding Officer, told The Chronicle that voting had been peaceful.

Indeed, this reporter sighted military men patrolling the streets.

Asawase has a voting population of 101,798, with 206 polling stations, making it the fifth largest voting constituency in the Ashanti Region.

Addressing the media after exercising his franchise at Asawase Peace of God in Aboabo No 1 in the Asokore Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Rregion, the parliamentary candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, noted that voting had been peaceful.

He lauded the military deployment in the constituency, saying some elements were misbehaving in the morning. At Subin, this paper visited the Asem Cluster of Schools, which had two polling stations, namely Asem Boys Junior High School (JHS) 1 and 2, which have a voting population of 419 and 364 voters respectively.

Responding to the question, Mr. Benedict Opoku, Presiding Officer for Asem Boys JHS 1, explained to this paper that they had not had issues with voting proceedings.

However, electoral officers at St Cyprian’s Primary 2 had issues with the biometric machine during the initial stages of the polls, which somehow stalled the voting process.

Speaking to Mr. Robert Appiah, Presiding Officer at the said polling station, he told this paper that their biometric machine was malfunctioning, but was rectified for voting to continue.

In another development, the General Officer Commanding Central Command, Ghana Armed Forces, Brig. Gen J.A Aphour, and the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwasi Ampofo Duku, went round inspecting voting in the Ashanti Region.

The Chronicle sighted the security chiefs at a polling station at the National House of Chiefs near Manhyia Palace. In a brief remark to the media, Brig. Gen Aphour said they were monitoring how the polls were being conducted to make sure the elections were devoid of security challenges.

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