The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has questioned the Electoral Commission’s ability to successfully conduct this year’s general elections.
According to them, the number of challenges facing the Commission and time constraints will make it difficult for it to conduct a successful election.
[contextly_sidebar id=”HwMCsY738Cwtpuom2Hv2LfVjkFbQDSYD”]The NPP’s comments come on the back of the Supreme Court’s order to the EC directing it to delete from the voter’s register, names of persons who registered with National Health Insurance cards.
In an interview with Citi News, the Director of Elections for the NPP, Martin Agyei Mensah-Korsah charged the EC to be truthful about the issues surrounding the conduct of this year’s election.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge for them and I expect the Electoral Commission to come and tell us the difficulties that they have. I tell you if they don’t get honest with anybody and to themselves they are going to have serious problem.”
“…In effect, this whole register matter is supposed to be fixed within four months…but clearly there is no time. They have to admit there is a big challenge and begin to work, otherwise there is going to be a major problem. I don’t want to be a prophet of doom but I tell you that it’s not going to be easy at all and I don’t envy this commission.”
“They have just four months to make the register credible and I’m wondering how they are going to do it. If you have gone to court and said that majority of your registered voters did so by NHIS cards and you are saying that majority out of 14 million so you can imagine it could anything not less than 8 million and how are you going to remove more than eight million people and give them the opportunity to re-register, you must as well begin a new register,” he added.
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme Court in its ruling today May 5, ordered the deletion of the names of all those who registered with the NHIS cards.
It also asked the Electoral Commission to remove the names of all other ineligible persons including the names of deceased persons.
NHIS card holders not automatically void
But a statement signed by Georgina Opoku Amankwaa, a Deputy Chair of the Commission in-charge of Corporate Services said they are ready to implement the directives by following existing applicable laws on cleaning the register.
“That the existing law has made ample and sufficient provisions for ineligible names to be deleted during the exhibition of the provisional register but such deletions must be in accordance with the applicable law. For persons who registered with NHIA cards, such registrations were lawful at the time of registration, and the subsequent declaration of unconstitutionality in the earlier Abu Ramadan case, does not ‘automatically render them void’. Such a position according to the Supreme Court, would have the effect of disenfranchising the persons affected. Such registrations should only be deleted by means of processes established under the law.”
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin