The New Patriotic Party\u2019s (NPP) evidence to back its claims that the current voters register is bloated has been described as flawed and problematic.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”Y5XjzmwZJFXmoa0fj3qiOqV7JNdUJh90″]According to the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Asiedu Nketia, the \u201cNPP\u2019s claim that Ghana\u2019s voter population of 14 million is indicative of a bloated register on account of national population census figures of 25 million in 2010 in comparison to other countries is flawed on several grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
He further questioned the \u201cNPP\u2019s use of the 2010 census data to cast doubts on the register as compiled in 2012\u201d, describing it as \u201cproblematic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing \u00a0a gathering at Alisa Hotel in Accra a few weeks ago, the NPP’s Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia said the NPP has strong evidence that show that\u00a0the\u00a0existing voters\u2019 register is flawed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence that we have is damning and shows that Ghana\u2019s voters register has been compromised,\u201d Dr Bawumia said .<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cwhat is more troubling is the fact that most of the pictures on the register were scanned unto the cards. These pictures do not represent real registers. It is not a document we can rely on for free, fair elections.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Asiedu Nketia believes the evidence can only be used and sustained \u201cwhen it is assumed that Ghana\u2019s population has been static since the last census or there was no upward movement in ages of those captured.\u201d<\/p>\n
Problem not defined<\/strong><\/p>\n Nketia also indicated that the problem regarding the voters register had not been clearly been defined as far as the NDC is concerned.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as we in the NDC are concerned, we have not defined any problem yet because we keep shifting from one position to the other and then to the other and so we don\u2019t agree on the problem that we are trying to solve.<\/p>\n He therefore emphasized the need for the problem to be clearly indentified in order to \u201cassess proposed solutions and determine whether those solutions will address the problems that have been identified.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we proceed to just engage in a change and that change is going to have a neutral effect on the statusquo then we have engaged in a useless exercise. On the other hand if we are proposing a change that is not going to help maintain the status quo but is going to be injurious to the status quo then in our view that change should not be contemplated at all,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Asiedu Nketia made these submissions at the Electoral Commission’s (EC) forum \u00a0on the need for a new voters\u2019 register.<\/p>\n Various political parties have already started making their submissions<\/a><\/span> <\/strong>on the subject.<\/p>\n The Chairperson of the EC has given the assurance that her outfit will take a decision that will be in the best interest of the party.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Marian Efe Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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