The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has been warned by both the People�s National Convention (PNC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over suspicion of voter fraud which could occur if prudent measures are not taken to address issues with regards to the introduction of the biometric registration and voting.
Several stakeholders and political figures including the deputy Communications Director of the NPP, Samuel Awuku, have come out publicly to express their dissatisfaction with the ECs preparedness towards the 2012 General Elections.
To him, the EC has not been up to task considering the number of months left to decide who becomes President in 2012.
�The E.C., should know that this (election 2012) isn�t a poll to elect a School Prefect in Ashiaman Senior High School nor one to elect an SRC President at the University of Ghana,� he cautioned.
It would be recalled that both the NPP and PNC walked out of a meeting arranged by the EC for political parties to observe the biometric registration process and also to inspect a new biometric technology it intends using for next year's general elections.
Representatives of the two parties said their boycott was premised on the fact that the EC had circumvented procurement procedures and also the Commission did not allow the political parties present to make any comment � but just to observe.
Airing his views on Peace FM�s �Kokrooko� and later on OmanFM, Sammy Awuku said the NPP has "every right to criticize at every stage the movement, the character and the operations of the electoral commission, regarding the 2012 elections. And for the NPP as a political party, we would not accept electoral results which we believe to be fraudulent�.
The NPP deputy Communications Director re-echoed some of the concerns raised by other members of his party about what they see as the EC�s refusal to include a verification system in the biometric register.
According to him, it is on record that some African countries which went in for biometric register without a verification process had their elections replete with violence and chaos.
He also described as discomforting the ECs reluctance in convening an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) as demanded by the political parties to redress some of the pertinent issues they have raised.
�What is more worrying to the NPP is that both the Christian and Muslim Council had gone mute over the issue but will be the first to come out to preach peace should violence erupt as a result of electoral disputes,� he said.
Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/Peacefmonline.com
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