Some Youngmen at La cash in on long queues at registration centres (Sat August 9, 2008)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
SOME young men in La near Accra, are allegedly taking advantage of the presence of long queues at voter registration centres to collect money from willing late-comers and allow them to jump the queues to register.
Information gathered by the Daily Graphic at the La Wireless cluster of schools indicated that a group of young men had made it a habit to join the queue early in the morning on daily basis and later allow others to jump it ahead of them for a fee.
Nineteen-year-old Naa Adoley, a resident of La Abomi whom this reporter overheard having a conversation with a friend said after trying for three days to register at the La Olympia registration centre without success, she decided to try the La Wireless School where she had to pay GH¢.50p to pave the way for her to register.
When she was approached for details of her experience, Naa Adoley said after waiting for more than four hours, she got tired and went behind the school block to rest where she met other young ladies also resting on a veranda.
“ It was there that a group of boys approached us individually and suggested that we pay GH¢.50p each to enable us join the queue at an appreciable position”, she said.
According to Naa Adoley many of the ladies refused but after she and other five ladies had paid, the young men pointed to them (the ladies) where they (the young men) were in the queue and advised that they come individually and at intervals to join directly ahead of each of them.
Naa Adoley explained that when she joined the queue some minutes after the young men had left them, some people already in the queue started complaining but the young men quickly told them that she (Naa Adoley) was in the queue when he (the young man) joined.
“The complaints continued for a while but the people kept quiet after some few minutes and less than 20 minutes later, I had the opportunity to register”, she told.
Another young lady Naa Adoley said was her witness confirmed the story but said she did not pay but was allowed to jump the queue because she knew one of the boys who allowed her.
A young man who refused to mention his name but this reporter heard someone referred to him as Richmond, said a friend of his had been in the queue since Monday to “help people to register for something small”.
Looking suspicious and with shaky hands “Richmond” said his so called friend got up at dawn every day to join the queue but always moved back when it was his turn to register in order to continue to be in the queue to “help” others.
The Electoral Commission (EC) on Thursday, July 31, 2008 started registering those who have turned 18 and other eligible voters who are not registered.
On August Wednesday, August 7, 2008, the Daily Graphic reported that large numbers of people continued to form long queues at the various registration centres in Accra seven days into the voters registration exercise.
Some prospective voters interviewed at several registration centres in the city cited the slow pace of the registration exercise and shortage of materials as some of the reasons for the long queues.
Long winding queues of tired and frustrated prospective voters were the scenes that greeted Daily Graphic reporters during a tour of some centres.
Most registration centres were without any comfortable seating areas and waiting proved very tiring for the eager applicants. The resultant stress generated petty quarrels, irritation and fights.
Some of the applicants who were in the queues as of 2 pm on August 6, 2008, said they had been in the queues since dawn.