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The Electoral Commission (EC) is expected to take a one-day break from the ongoing voter registration for the celebrations of Eid-Al-Adha on Friday, July 31.
The Ministry of the Interior declared the day as a statutory Public Holiday to mark the Islamic festival which fell on one of the days of the registration.
The Head of Public Relations of the EC, Madam Sylvia Annor, announced the decision in an interview with Citi FM, which was monitored by theghanareport.com.
Originally, the EC was going to have the registration on Friday, but “due to the concerns raised by the general public, particularly the Muslim community,” it decided to rescind the decision.
In view of the holiday, the EC officials are also expected to take a break on Friday and resume the next day.
The registration exercise began on June 30 and expected to end on August 6.
It is being conducted in five phases with the last phase expected to commence after the celebrations.
The EC completed four phases in 24 days, with a total of 11.7 million registered people across the country.
The Greater Accra Region had the highest number of registrants totaling 2,615,925, followed by the Ashanti Region with 2,089,923.
In terms of gender, more women are registering than men with a wide gap.
The EC has registered 6,100,440 women as against 5,528,970 for men.
Women make up 52.5% of registered citizens so far, compared to men who make up 47.5%.
What is Eid-Al-Adha
The festival is the second of two Islamic holidays celebrated worldwide each year (the other being Eid al-Fitr), and considered the holier of the two.
It honors the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God’s command. But, before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son, God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead.
In commemoration of this intervention, an animal, usually a sheep, is sacrificed ritually and divided into three parts.
One share is given to the poor and needy, another is kept for home, and the third is given to relatives.
Celebrate at home
Ahead of the celebration, the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, has urged Muslims to mark the Eid-Al-Adha at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just as the Eid-ul-Fitr, Muslims are to avoid crowds and gathering in order to observe social distancing to curtail the spread of the infection that killed 168 people.
Total infections as at Wednesday as provided by the Ghana Health Service was 34,406 with 30,621 recoveries/ discharges.
