ROPAL: Shedding light on a recent misstatement

Judging by the number of responses to a recent article on Ghanaweb ascribed to Network Herald, Ghanaians in the Diaspora are watching developments related to the implementation of ROPAA like hawks. Representation of the People Amendment Act (ROPAA – Act 699) was signed into law on February 24, 2006 and extends the right to register to vote in Ghana’s national elections and referenda to qualifying Ghanaians living outside the country. While both prospective voters and those against the implementation of ROPAA telescope on morsels of news from Ghana’s Electoral Commission, any statement or misstatement inflames passions, sends tongues wagging, phones ringing and keyboards punching. Such is the thirst for good information and the need to finally be counted as undifferentiated Ghanaians regardless of domicile. Make no mistake, this writer is for the implementation of ROPAA, at whatever scale, in 2008.

But this article is not about me, the NDC, CPP, GNP, PNC, NPP, DFP or any alphabet combination of political party in Ghana. The aim is to correct a misstatement attributed to one of Ghana’s three Electoral Commissioners – Mr. David Kangah, the Deputy Commissioner for Finance and Administration. The Saturday February 24, 2006 issue of Ghanaweb blazoned a headline: “Ghanaians Abroad Can’t Vote in 2008”. Is it coincidental that the date of this article is precisely the anniversary of Act 699? Is someone up to some mischief or taking it upon themselves to make a unilateral decision for the Electoral Commission that is anxiously expected to come up with ROPAA’s implementation strategies? Let us continue.

Mr. Kanga, Deputy Electoral Commissioner was rechristened in the said article from Herald Network as: “Deputy Director”. Ring the alarms and be careful what you read from hardly known newspapers in Ghana. The article goes on to categorically state that “The Deputy Director…. Has indicated that the …ROPAL… will not be effective for the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary elections”. Oh my, how do we deal with such a decisive report when some of us are hell-bent on seeing ROPAA’s implementation in 2008? There is only one thing to do and this writer did it. He made calls not to one but to two of the Electoral Commissioners in Ghana including Mr. Kangah. Hear their response to the question: “Is it true what we are reading on Ghanaweb that ROPAA will NOT be implemented in 2008?

First there was the surprise at the question and complete lack of knowledge of the said article or anyone even asking them about it. Then to the more direct question: “Okay so what is the answer to 2008?” The response: “No one at the Electoral Commission either individually or collectively has made any decision concerning 2008.” Probing further, I asked the man in the hot seat: “What are you willing to state in your defense and shed light on the issue to the anxious multitudes in the Diaspora”: His response: “The statement attributed to me is very wrong. I said at the presentation of a certificate to a new political party that we have done all the technical work with respect to the implementation of ROPAA. We are in the process of preparing a budget. We cannot at this time put any time frame on it”

So there you have it folks. A reasonable interpretation- it could happen in 2008 in some form or it could not. Either way we should unite to press for the implementation of ROPAA in 2008 otherwise it would be FIVE national elections since 1992 that Ghanaians abroad would be denied their constitutional franchise. Of course the minority who oppose ROPAA today, tomorrow and forever for reasons other than the full exercise of democracy and organized engagement with a growing citizenry in the new internationalism will object. They are entitled to vote against candidates from Parties they don’t like by getting all their qualified friends to vote for those they do just like anyone else. ROPAA is neither an elephant nor an umbrella. It is a thumb- your’s- and you can direct it in any direction you want come voting time.