The Supreme Court has ordered the Electoral Commission to furnish it with the full list of persons who registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card as a form of identification, in six days.
According to the five panel of judges, this will help the court bring clarity on its May 5, 2016 judgement, regarding the removal of unqualified persons on the voters register to a closure.
They further ordered that the Electoral Commission to provide them with a detailed plan on how they were going to carry out the deletion and re-registration of the people, who registered with the NHIS cards.
The former People’s National Convention (PNC) Youth Organizer, Abu Ramadan, is back in court to seek clarity regarding the removal of unqualified persons on the voters register.
We’ll stop EC from plunging Ghana into chaos – Supreme Court
The apex court of the land, has also warned that, it will not allow the Electoral commission, to plunge the country into chaos.
The visibly unhappy panel of justices presided over by Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, indicated their displeasure over what they termed the lackadaisical attitude of the EC in complying with their orders in the Abu Ramadan suit.
The EC today [Thursday], failed to turn up in court to announce specific measures they are putting in place to delete names of voters who registered with NHIS cards.
The EC, which appears to have understood the ruling of the Supreme Court differently on the deletion of NHIS card registrants, had said the names would be deleted using existing procedures.
The former People’s National Convention’s (PNC) National Youth Organiser, Abu Ramadan, and Evans Nimako, who secured the May 5 ruling, are back to the Court seeking a clarification of the ruling, following the EC’s explanation.
Background
The apex court on May 5, asked the Electoral Commission to expunge from the current voters’ register the names of all persons who registered and voted in the 2012 elections, with the NHIS card as a proof of identity.
The ruling followed a suit filed by Abu Ramadan, and one, Evans Nimako, who in 2014 won a lawsuit that barred the use of NHIS cards for registration. The two, among other reliefs, wanted the current register declared inappropriate for the November polls.
But the EC after studying the ruling said it’s understanding does not suggest the use of any new process to delete the names of those who registered with NHIS cards, since there are already laid down procedures for expunging ineligible names. The EC’s explanation however angered Mr. Ramadan who felt the Commission was disrespecting the explicit orders of the court.
His position was further strengthened when one of the judges who gave the May 5 ruling, stated categorically that the ruling was clear and unambiguous and that the EC must remove the names of persons who registered with the NHIS card.
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By: Fred Djabanor/citifmonline.com/Ghana