A five-member body has been set up by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana to receive petitions and calls from some political parties, civil society groups and a number of Ghanaians for a new voters’ register.

Others have called for an audit of the voters' register, all with a view to ensuring a credible voters’ register for 2016 and beyond.

According to the EC, in order to assure a transparent and accountable process for examining and determining the petitions, it has assembled a Panel of Eminent Ghanaians to hold a two-day public hearing on the issue.

The hearings will take place on Thursday and Friday, the 29th and 30th of October, 2015 at Alisa Hotel, North Ridge, Accra from 10:00hrs to 13:00hrs and 14:00hrs to 17:00hrs daily.

The Panel of five will conduct the hearings in a free, transparent, fair and objective manner. The hearings will also be broadcast live on radio, television and on the internet for the benefit of Ghanaians who cannot attend but wish to follow the proceedings. The findings and recommendations of the Panel will be presented to the EC for final decision and communication to the public.

The Panel is made up of:

a. His Lordship Professor V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, Co-Chair of the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers, (CODEO), former Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana, former Professor of Law, and former Electoral Commissioner of Ghana;

b. Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana and Chairman of the National Peace Council;

c. Dr. Grace Bediako, a former Government Statistician and former member of the National Development Planning Commission;

d. Dr. Nii Narku Quaynor, a renowned computer scientist, Chairman of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Board of Directors, and President of the Internet Society of Ghana; and

e. Maulvi Bin Salih, Ameer of the Ahmadiyya Mission of Ghana.

Any person or institution interested in attending the Forum should please contact the undersigned for an invitation. The schedule for presentations at the Forum will be circulated prior to the Forum to all who made submissions to the EC and are scheduled to make presentations.

The EC, in the discharge of its constitutional mandate to run free, fair and credible elections, assures the people of Ghana of its commitment to undertake its solemn duty dispassionately.