The largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has estimated that a minimum of one million potential voters will be disenfranchised should the Electoral Commission adamantly continue to hold the limited registration exercise for the Assembly election at its district offices instead of at the electoral levels.
The EC recently announced plans to undertake a limited voter registration exercise for qualified voters who have attained 18 years ahead of the local level election this year but the NDC has kicked against conducting the exercise at the 250 district offices of the Commission contrary to the decentralized system used in previous registration exercises under former chairpersons which saw deployment of registration machines to 6,000 centres.
Speaking on Friday during a symposium held on the theme: “Current State of Ghana” by the Koforidua Technical University chapter of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN), the General Secretary of the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia stated that, “You [EC] are going to conduct an election and you are enjoined by the constitution to make sure that every Ghanaian of 18 years and above is registered and would have the opportunity to cast their ballot. Then you intentionally developed a system which will disenfranchise a minimum of 1 million voters and we are all quiet in this country. Where are we heading towards?”
According to him, the Jean Mensah led Commission has sidestepped laid down procedure used by her predecessors who had always consulted the Statistical Service of Ghana to get accurate estimated number of Ghanaians who have attained 18 years to guide in a voter registration of such nature. He said the EC instead generated its own estimation of around 300,000 potential voters who have attained 18 years and above within three years.
“Before we undertake any registration exercise of voters in Ghana the first thing you do is since you are going to register human beings of a certain age, Electoral Commission is not mandated as an institution to make pronouncement of how many Ghanaians are of this age. The institution that does that is the Statistical Service of Ghana. So you write to statistical service how many Ghanaians are of 18 years and above as of today and they give you the figures,” he said.
He said during the leadership of Charlotte Osei, the immediate past chairperson of EC, a total of 1,070,000 were captured in the limited registration exercise therefore, it will be warp logic for the current EC Chair to assume and estimate that only 300,000 Ghanaians have attained 18 years and above for the limited registration exercise.
“Even if you go by the most conservative estimate and you assume that nobody grew, all our ages were stagnant at some point in time or nobody gave birth in this country, at least between 2016 and 2019, a period of 3 years can’t you get 1 million people who have entered the 18 year group? Jean Mensah want us to accept that the number of Ghanaians who have entered 18 years group and above is 300,000. In three years, so this type of mathematics can only happen under Nana Akufo-Addo’s government.”
The program was also attended by the Deputy National Organizer of the NDC, Chief Hamilton Biney Nixon, Deputy National Women Organizer, Maame Efua Sekyi-Addo, Eastern Regional Secretary, Mark Oliver Kevor, MP for Afram Plain South, Eric Osei Owusu among others.
Source: starrfmonline.com
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How did you come by that number?
IT IS NOT EVERYBODY WHO CAN REGISTER AT ANYTIME. SOME WOULD BE TRAVELED OUTSIDE WHERE THERE VOTE. SOME MAY BE SICK AT THE TIME OF SUCH REGISTRATION. SOME MAY BE LIVING OUTSIDE THE NATION. BUT THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR ANYBODY WHO WANT TO REGISTER TO DO SO, IF THEY ARE SERIOUS. WHAT CAN ANYONE DO FOR ANYONE WHO MIGHT NOT CARE NOR FIND THE EXERCISE SERIOUS. SUCH PEOPLE MAY NOT EVEN CARE TO EXAMINE CRITICALLY FOR WHAT AND WHO TO VOTE. WHY DO WE TRY TO GET FOREIGNERS TO VOTE IN ELECTION? THEY MAY NOT CARE WHO THEY VOTE FOR. CITIZENS WHO DO NOT CARE FOR WHO AND FOR WHAT THEY VOTE ARE AS DANGEROUS AND THREATENING AS THE FOREIGNER. NOTHING COMES WITHOUT A PRICE. IT IS UNFORTUNATE BUT IN EVERY EXERCISE SOME PEOPLE GET IT AT HIGHER PRICE.
If even 2 million we want our register to be clean ndc can't dictate to the EC ! how has the EC is independent in 2015 become EC must be controlled by the ndc walahi it will never happen. Ndc your huhuhu 3ny3 yen hu biom! You've intimidated, bullied Ghanaians from P/ndc time to today we are now ready for you. We will never give our country back to you for you to overturn it backwards like your backward life ! The EC boss is resolute and will never heed to your m*adness, you can opt out its an option! whatever you do you will lose and if you think you will create confusion for the world to blame the government they are all watching with eagle eyes and know your intentions and plot. Listen to yourselves ndc,if your flagbearer assembling diplomats and showed them those false video had any impact to get a backing from the international community, they knew you and know you very well so up till now they didn't bother themselves to even comment. The Spanish ambassador said she had no comment on that,pressed hard to say something she just said it won't have any effect on Ghana which meant it was rub*bish. Asiedu Nketiah and john mahama and President Akufo Addo who do you think they trust and want to do business with? definitely not ndc ! keep on f00*00ling and think you will win the war you want to bring because you want power at all cost ! Is that war going to solve your problem?is that war going to give you power how st*upid you think! Start any war and state of emergency will be declared and the government will keep on doing their job till peace come !Nkwas*easem if it's not ndc then war bring it on if Ghana is your bona-fide property!