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Sylvia Annor: We’ll institute COVID-19 safety protocols before undertaking registration exercise
The Electoral Commission (EC) has assured the electorate that it will put the necessary safety protocols in place to ensure that they are adequately protected against COVID-19 contraction while undertaking the exercise.
In furtherance of that it indicated that not more than 25 people would be permitted at a registration centre at a given time when the commission begins the mass voter registration exercise for the December polls.
Sylvia Annor, the Communications Director for the Electoral Commission, made the disclosure and noted that the commission was poised to develop a new voters’ roll for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
“At each point in time we will ensure that we do not have more than 25 persons including the officials at any registration centre, people coming to register will be given hand sanitisers before they enter the registration centre, you need to wear a face mask, without a face mask you cannot enter a registration centre and there will be no crowding at the registration centre, I can assure you,” she said.
Ms Annor reiterated the EC’s position that existing Voter’s ID cards would not be accepted as proof of identity during the registration exercise and insisted that the electorate needed a Ghanaian passport or Ghana card, if for one reason or the other the electorate don’t have any of the two then they have to get two guarantors to guarantee for them.
“We are not using the old voters’ ID card, the voters’ ID card, some people argue, is not a good index for identification, it’s an established fact that the ID card is not a good index for proof of identification,” she maintained.
But the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has alleged that the EC and the National Identification Authority (NIA) are conspiring to suppress votes in the strongholds of the party.
Addressing a news conference recently, Ofosu Ampofo, the National Chairman of the NDC, alleged that the decision of the commission to push for the Ghana card, birth certificate and passport as the primary documents required to register during the voters’ registration exercise was part of a grand scheme to rig the 2020 elections in favour of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).-starrfmonline.com
Star Oil Ghana has explained that the fuel shortages being experienced at some of its filling stations are due to a technical problem with the Integrated Customs Management System used by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
In statement, the company assured the public that the shortages are not the result of hoarding in anticipation of a fuel price increase.
It explained that although plans were made to lift petroleum products on Saturday after Friday’s public holiday, the ICUMS system was down throughout the day.
According to the company, the situation prevented oil marketing companies from processing the documents required to load petroleum products.
Star Oil noted that it expected the system to be restored by Monday, March 9, 2026, but the technical challenges were still ongoing and affecting the entire petroleum industry.
The company added that its stations tend to experience shortages more quickly because many of them record high sales compared to the storage capacity of their underground fuel tanks.
It indicated that it was closely monitoring the situation and would resume lifting petroleum products immediately after the system is restored.
The company thanked customers for their understanding and support while efforts continue to resolve the challenge.
By: Jacob Aggrey
GOIL PLC and Star Oil Ghana have warned customers about possible fuel shortages at some filling stations across the country following a technical problem with the Integrated Customs Management System.
In a public notice to customers, GOIL explained that the system, which is used to process tax liabilities for oil marketing companies, has been experiencing an outage since Thursday.
According to the company, the problem has prevented oil marketing companies from loading petroleum products from fuel depots for distribution to service stations.
It noted that because of the disruption, some of its stations across the country may temporarily run low on fuel.
The Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of GOIL, Edward Abambire Bawa, expressed regret over the situation and apologised to customers for the inconvenience.
He explained that the company understands the impact the situation could have on motorists and transport operators who rely on its products for their daily activities.
Star Oil also confirmed the challenge in a separate message to customers, explaining that the outage has affected the entire petroleum industry.
The company indicated that oil marketing companies have been unable to process the required documents needed to load fuel due to the system failure.
It added that some of its stations could run out of fuel faster because many of them record high sales compared to their underground storage capacity.
Both companies assured customers that they were engaging the relevant authorities to resolve the problem so that normal fuel supply could resume.
They thanked customers for their patience and continued support while efforts are being made to restore the system.
By: Jacob Aggrey
