NHIS voters list is of doubtful validity – Baako

The list of 56,000 ‘NHIS voters’ presented to the Supreme Court by the Electoral Commission (EC) is of “doubtful validity”, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jr, has said.

“I have to be very honest with you, I don’t have evidence for what I’m going to say, I have no evidence to back what I am going to say, but I think the list is of doubtful validity,” Mr Baako said on Multi Tv’s News analysis programme Newsfile on Saturday July 2, adding: “It’s my instincts. This is an instinctive reaction. I’m sorry I have no evidence but something tells me something is wrong with the list.”

The EC submitted the list upon an order from the Supreme Court to do so within six days following a return to court by Mr Abu Ramadan of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and one Evans Nimako, to seek clarification of the court’s May 5 ruling, whose interpretation sparked a flurry of confusion.

The court on May 5 directed the EC to delete from the register of voters, the names of the dead, minors as well as all voters who registered using their National Health Insurance Cards as a national ID. The same court had ruled almost two years ago that the NHIS cards were invalid for voter registration.

The plaintiffs and their lawyers have contested the validity of the list saying there needs to have been more than 56,000 of such registrants. They described the list as fake and fictitious.

Their sentiments are in good company with that of Mr Baako, who advised the EC on Saturday that: “If you didn’t have the time and space to put up a comprehensive list, please go back to the court and say we need time. But this list, 50-something thousand, I’m told and with all the discrepancies that have been put out already, I am beginning to think that we are in serious trouble.”

“Last week I was a bit more optimistic that we were heading towards the destination – a closure – to this matter, now I’m beginning to fear some road blocks. …There’s something basically wrong,” Mr Baako added.