Move by the Electoral Commission of Ghana to compile a new voters’ register for the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections has been rejected by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The EC announced in a statement after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting Wednesday, March 27, 2019 the resolve to register new voters and compile a register ahead of the elections in 2020.
According to the communique signed by the Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, the resolve to compile a new register is one of the key decisions taken at the IPAC meeting which was attended by representatives of all political parties in the country.
The statement further disclosed that there is an ongoing inspection exercise of offices of political parties is underway and a comprehensive report on the findings of the inspection would be made available to stakeholders by end of May, 2019.
But the largest opposition party in reaction to the statement says it is not aware of any decision on the compilation of a new voters’ register as nothing of that sort was discussed at the IPAC meeting.
The NDC said portions of the EC statement “do not represent the true reflection of what transpired at the IPAC meeting”.
They explained that there was no extensive discussion on compiling new register during the meeting as contained in the communique circulated by the EC.
“We take particular notice of a portion of the EC press release which states as follows:- ‘The Commission will compile a new voters register ahead of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections’. We wish to state emphatically and without any fear of contradiction, that no decision was taken on this matter. In fact, the compilation of a new voters register was only mentioned in passing by the EC during the discussion on limited registration,” the NDC stated in a release signed by General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia.
“There certainly was no “extensive deliberations “ on this particular matter. The absurdity of such a claim, is amply evident from the Commission’s own statement, which captured the agenda for discussion as follows; *Preparations for the 2019 District Level Elections *Inspection of Political Party Offices *Updates on the compliance of the Political Parties with Audit requirements. The compilation of a new voters register was not one of the items on the agenda for discussion, thus cannot warrant a basis for any decision by the political parties,” the NDC stressed.
The party is demanding explanations from the electoral management body on why only the Chairperson of the Commission appended her signature to the statement in circulation without those of the representatives of the various political parties.
“Curiously the communique was signed by only the Chairperson of the Commission instead of the representatives of the various political parties. Can the EC explain why this is so? The ND, therefore,e disassociates itself from the communique and demands it’s withdrawal as it is not in consonance with conclusions of the IPAC meeting.
It may interest you to note that, there were decisions taken which did not find space in the communique. One such
decisions was for the EC to decentralize the limited registration exercise to the Electoral Area level in accordance with the time tested practice in all limited registration exercises since the beginning of the fourth Republic.
The NDC cautions the EC to be mindful of its core mandate to act as a credible impartial referee in the country’s electoral processes and to play by the rule books,” the statement adds.
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By: Kekeli Kuatsenu/awakenewsonline.com