With the 2019 general elections holding few weeks away, a non-:governmental organisation known as ‘We The People’ has commenced campaign against electoral malpractice and violence in Rivers East Senatorial District.
The Executive Director of We The People,Mr Ken Henshaw, had during a town hall meeting organized by his organization to sensitize the youths on the dangers of electoral violence and malpractice, stressed the need to ensure that 2019 elections are violence free.
Speaking on the topic “Resisting electoral Malpractices and Violence in 2019,” he noted that electoral malpractice and violence actually starts during voter registration exercise when people are intentionally denied registration just because of their political party affiliation, religion or ethnicity.
He regretted that electoral malpractice can take the form of subjecting voters to vote against their choice, which may be through the presence of heavily armed security agents and touts or outrightly maiming the opposition.
Tasking them on peaceful and corruption-free elections come 2019, Mr Henshaw maintained that when the real issues like how efficient a candidate is and how well he served in his previous offices are at play, voters find it easier to choose their leaders.
The program manager of Social Change, Prince Ekpere, in his remarks, asked youths from the area to resist selling or buying of votes as it is a sure way of remaining unemployed.
He also advised them to shun all forms of violence so as not to endanger their future.
“You don’t need rulers, you need leaders. Those who will sit down with you and fashion you into their programs”, he insisted.
He reminded them that elections are opportunities for them to choose those people who would represent them in Government, and urged them not to mortgage their future for a stipend, as electing a wrong candidate for four years would amount to living in abject poverty for four years.
