Former Ghana High Commissioner to the UK, Ambassador Victor Smith, has warned the Electoral Commission to conduct a forensic audit of the 2024 voter register as demanded by the NDC to avert tension in the country.

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party Smith is a leading member of, has alleged compromised data in the register to be used for the 2024 general elections.

The EC has acknowledged the issue and has pledged to work internally to rectify it, but the process has faced significant public scrutiny.

Victor Smith’s comment follows calls by civil society organizations, chiefs, and other stakeholders to cleanse the electoral roll.

Recently, the Omanhene of the Goaso Traditional Area, Nana Kwasi Bosompra I, condemned the EC for its reluctance to cleanse the register, which is fraught with anomalies, and called on fellow traditional rulers to speak on the matter to ensure the 2024 elections are peaceful.

Speaking on the Dwaboase program on TV XYZ on September 26, Ambassador Smith warned that the EC Boss may not be able to contain the heat when Ghanaians become agitated by the reluctance of the electoral management body to audit the voter register.

According to him, the NDC has large numbers and can stop the elections if the EC fails to do what is right and ensure the election is transparent, free, and fair.

“The auditing has to be done and it must be forensic…We don’t have to use the EC to do that job,” stated the former High Commissioner.

He also remarked that if the EC refuses to allow a neutral auditor to do the cleansing of the register, the NDC will halt the country.

Asked what is next for the NDC, whose petition to the Electoral Commission is yet to be replied to a week after they staged a protest and handed their grievances to the institution, Mr. Smith said, “When the youth of the country come together as a force, you can’t stand. They could end up with a popular uprising.”

Warning the EC leadership to sit up, Ambassador Smith cautioned that, “Whatever they do, we must have that audit [of the voter register]; otherwise, Afghanistan, Gaza, and Ukraine combined is what will happen in Ghana.”

Other Calls

Meanwhile, leader of the Movement for Change (M4C), Alan Kyerematen, and the Alliance for Revolutionary Change have also backed calls for the EC to listen to stakeholders and conduct a forensic audit of the voter register.

He emphasized the need for a high-level Technical Working Group (TWG) chaired by the EC to oversee this process from September 30 to October 11.

Nana Ohene-Ntow, Director of Elections Planning and Coordination for the movement, in a letter to the EC on behalf of Mr. Kyerematen dated September 23, noted that the cleansing of the electoral roll is crucial to the tranquillity of the country.

He proposed the establishment of a high-level Technical Working Group (TWG), chaired by the EC, and including representatives from all candidates cleared to contest the elections, as well as the data management consultants for the EC.

The Movement for Change leader also said the Technical Working Group would be tasked with conducting a full and comprehensive audit of the current voters register, using key source documents including the final 2020 Voters Register, limited registration data since 2021, voter transfers, and special voters lists from 2020 to the present.

He said each member of the group would have access to original copies of these documents to verify their authenticity.

He said candidates or their representatives who possess evidence of compromised data in the current register would be required to submit it to the Technical Working Group before the audit begins and that the final result of this collaborative process would be recognized as the official voters register for the 2024 general elections.

“The proposed process outlined above mirrors a ‘forensic audit’ being advocated for by a section of the Ghanaian public, and ought to come up with a Voters Register acceptable to all contestants and voters in the upcoming 2024 General Elections.”