North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called on the government to immediately replace all identification documents of victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage.
According to him, the government must guarantee that these individuals affected by the flood will not be disenfranchised in the upcoming general elections.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, February 21, Mr Ablakwa stated that practical steps should be taken by the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure that all those who lost their voter ID cards have their cards replaced.
He explained that it is inadequate for the EC to say that these individuals can vote in the upcoming general elections without their cards, stressing that they can be subjected to unwarranted challenges and frustrated by party agents if they do not have their cards.
“Mr Speaker, after five months of spillage recovery efforts, the time has come for relevant public institutions to carry out a special and comprehensive exercise in all affected constituencies by immediately replacing these important IDs and documents.
“The institutions of concern are the Health Insurance Authority, the National Identification Authority, the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Births and Deaths Registry of Ghana and the Passport Office,” he said.
The North Tongu constituency MP stated that any replacement exercise by the institutions should not only be immediate, but the intervention must prioritise convenience where officials could be deployed in the affected communities and the displaced camps.
He emphasised that the replacement exercise must be done free of any costs and on humanitarian grounds.
Mr Ablakwa further urged the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin to direct the institutions responsible for replacing these IDs to take urgent steps to have all the lost identification cards replaced for all victims of the Akosombo dam spillage.
Source: myjoyonline.com / Prince Adu-Owusu
