Parliament has refuted claims that it has adopted a Constitutional Instrument to make the Ghana Card the sole registration document for citizens.
This follows some media reports that the legislative house has adopted the CI to make the document valid.
In a press release dated February 24, and signed by Kate Addo, the Director of Public Affairs, Parliament said,
“The attention of Parliament has been drawn to a report in the Ghanaian Times alleging that Parliament has passed a Constitutional Instrument (CI) to adopt Ghana Card as the sole registration document”
In the statement, parliament stated categorically that it has not passed any law to make Ghana Card the sole identity document for registration process in Ghana.
“Parliament states categorically that it has not passed any such instrument. In any case, Parliament does not pass Constitutional Instruments. They only come to force with the effluxion of time; that is, after twenty-one (21) days of the Instrument being laid before the house,” parts of the statement read.
The statement further noted that, parliament on Thursday, February 23, 2023 merely held a discussion to collect input from relevant stakeholders concerning the drafting of the Constitutional Instrument.
“The exercise Parliament undertook on Thursday, 23rd February , 2023 was to hold presentation discussions on the CI, to collect input from relevant sources for the drafting of the Constitutional Instrument (CI),” parts of the statement read.
Parliament has asked the Electoral Commission(EC) to provide further answers on a new constitutional instrument it is seeking to lay.
The Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2022 is seeking to scrap the guarantor system and make the Ghana card the only proof of nationality for voter registration.
Presenting the report of the special budget committee following a meeting with the EC over the CI, Majority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh stated the EC must appear before parliament with the National Identification Authority(NIA) over the decision to use the Ghana card.
Source: ghanaweb.com
