The Community Focus Foundation Ghana (CFF-GH) is asking the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission to terminate its decision to compile a new voter registration in the interest of the peace and security of the state.
In a press statement copied Awake News, the Executive Director of the Comunity Focus Foundation Ghana, Mr. Richard Kasu said: “The EC must terminate or cancel with immediate effect its decision to compile a new voter registration in the interest of state peace and security of the state”.
He added that new qualified voters must be enrolled on the voter roll through the limited voter registration exercise taking into account the necessary COVID-19 preventive protocols aimed at preventing the spread of the deadly virus.
Mr. Richard Kasu stated that “the communist inferior tactics being employed by the Electoral Commission (EC) can plunge Ghana into chaos” adding that the “EC must be seen to be working in the interest of the Ghanaian voter and NOT any individual or group of persons as it appears to some section of the Ghanaian populace.”
He further explained that the unbridled suspicions surrounding the EC’s work in recent times are seriously denting the integrity of the one-time enviable state institution acclaimed to be the best in West Africa, Africa, and the world.
Read the full statement below:
PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
The communist inferior tactics being employed by the Electoral Commission (EC) can plunge Ghana into chaos-CFF-GH
Community Focus Foundation Ghana (CFF-GH) has noted with great worry the shenanigans and the communist inferior tactics being employed by the nation’s electoral management body, the EC to disenfranchise millions of Ghanaians from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed by the 1992 constitution of Ghana.
We consider the unpopular decision by the EC to exclude the validly acquired voter ID by the Ghanaian people from the voter registration exercise as a well-calculated attempt to deny the majority of eligible voters from casting their constitutionally mandated votes in the upcoming general elections.
For the avoidance of doubt, the EC during its recent meeting with the eminent advisors, CSOs, and political party representatives at Cocoanut Groove Hotel made it emphatically clear to Ghanaians and the whole world that the voter ID card shall not be excluded from the voter registration process. What beats our imagination however is the u-turn made by the EC to exclude the voter ID card from the registration process without any consultations with the relevant stakeholders including political parties.
Of much concern are the posture and the numerous hate speeches by some senior members of the commission against some political parties who kick against some of their decisions.
The unbridled suspicions surrounding the EC’s work in recent times is seriously denting the integrity of the one-time enviable state institution acclaimed to be the best in West Africa, Africa, and the world.
As a leading CSO advocating for good governance and electoral integrity, we recommend the following for consideration by the EC;
1.That the EC must exhibit good faith by taking action and ensuring that all key stakeholders involved in the electoral process are engaged actively for consensus-building on key decisions rather than the unilateral manner in which decisions are being taken by the EC.
2. That the EC must terminate or cancel with immediate effect its decision to compile a new voter registration in the interest of state peace and security. New qualified voters must be enrolled on the voter roll through the limited voter registration exercise taking into account the necessary health protocols aimed at preventing coronavirus infections.
3. The EC must be seen to be working in the interest of the Ghanaian voter and NOT any individual or group of persons as it appears to some section of the Ghanaian populace.
We are calling on all Ghanaians including political actors, CSOs, moral society, and the diplomatic community to impress on the EC to implement the above recommendations to the later for that is one of the ways the EC’s seeming damaged integrity could be repaired towards ensuring a free and fair election in Ghana.
(Sgd)
Mr. Richard Kasu
(EXECUTE DIRECTOR)
0248640364
Cc:
1. The Chairperson, Electoral Commission
2. The National Security Minister
3. Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament
4. Members of the Diplomatic Corps
5. The Chairperson, ECOWAS
6. The Chairperson, AU
7. General Secretary, UN
8. All political Parties
9. All Media Houses
10Th June 2020