The Electoral Commission has explained that it has already initiated processes to effect the recommendations of the Supreme Court in its judgement today. The Supreme Court in a judgement today [Thursday] asserted that the current voters’ register is “reasonably inaccurate”, and thus directed the commission to immediately take steps to clean it.
The country’s apex court further ordered the Electoral Commission to expunge from the register names of all persons who registered in the 2012 elections, with the National Health Insurance Card as a proof of identity.
[contextly_sidebar id=”G5mbDNaShkwme5VTlbphAD8RDnCykLT9″]The Supreme Court made the statement in its ruling in a case brought before it by a former National Youth Organizer of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Abu Ramadan and one Evans Nimako, who were challenging the credibility of the current register.
Addressing a news conference in Accra today [ Thursday], a Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Georgina Opoku Amankwa, said although the Commission was yet to get a copy of the full judgment, it already has a programme in place to institute what the court has ordered.
Without revealing a detailed plan, Mrs. Opoku Amankwa said, “The good thing is that, what the Supreme Court is asking the EC to do is something that we have already put in place a programme to deal with. The nitty gritties are yet to be found out in the judgment itself which we are yet to be furnished with.”
We will hold EC to the court’s ruling
Speaking to Citi News, the first plaintiff in the case, Abu Ramadan, indicated that now that the Supreme Court has ordered the EC to come up with ways to clean the register and give voters another opportunity to re-register before November 7, they are going to hold them to it.
“This is not the end of the case, I can assure you. We are going to make sure every legal procedure that is available to us will be used. Even if it means on the day of election getting the last person deleted for the register to be credible, we will do that.”
The former youth leader further added that Ghana could be plunged into “chaos” if the EC does not implement the recommendations.
“Can you imagine the chaos that would have happened after election when somebody says I don’t agree with the election because even the Supreme Court of Ghana agrees that the register is not credible? So it’s a form of remedy and it will be better than it is now,” he argued.
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By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana