Vote4NDC, a pressure group affiliated with the National Democratic Congress has intensified its opposition to the proposed Constitutional Instrument by the Electoral Commission, petitioning both the commission and the Parliament of Ghana to act on it.
The EC with its new C.I is seeking to use the Ghana Card as the source document for registration onto the voters register.
Chief Biney, the convenor of the group on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 led some members to petition the EC to withdraw the CI as they believe it is a threat to Ghana’s democracy.
The group charged the EC Chair, Jean Mensa to reconsider the CI which seeks to make the Ghana Card the only recognized document for the elections.
It exhorted the mind of Jean Mensa to her works while with the Institute of Economic Affairs and put into action what she used to preach then.
“Madam Chairperson, your previous advocacy at IEA is something we all admired especially your contributions towards the many electoral reforms and governance in general, however, the current move by the Electoral Commission to introduce a new Constitutional Instrument (CI) that intends to make the Ghana Card the sole source or primary source document for identification before registration unto our electoral register MUST be re-looked at.”.
Chief Biney and his cohorts also indicated their lack of trust in the NIA to effectively register and issue cards to all eligible voters before the elections.
They appealed to the EC to adhere to the call by Kojo Afari Djan for the EC not to scrap the guarantor system as it has served the commission and the country well in previous elections.
“We found it very curious that the National Identification register that is currently under compilation with the many challenges that the National Identification Authority (NIA) is facing is what you want to rely on for such an important national exercise like voter registration. The time-tested guarantor system as enshrined in CI 91 and CI 126 as amended is a process that cannot be discarded just because we have started a process to have a national identification register or a certain group of political parties say so.
“What is again very worrying is the decision to limit the registration centers to only the district offices of the Electoral Commission, in days of harsh economic conditions that has brought a lot of pain and agony to ordinary citizens, the empathetic spirit of the woman you are should tell you that many of the young people you intend to register under the new proposed CI will not be able to register and many will be disenfranchised by this proposal.
“By this petition we wish to call on your good self and the commission to rescind this decision, allow good judgement to rule and take your time to consult broadly before any such new CI can be introduced. Take a break and listen to the many voices of conscience that are calling on you to take a break on this move”.
Source: ghanaweb.com
