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Opinions of Saturday, 6 June 2020

Columnist: Bola Ray

EC must do the needful to avoid chaos in the country

Ghana has had series of registration exercises put in place by the Electoral Commission after two general and assembly elections in the bid to capture new voters or Ghanaians who have truly attained 18 years.

After each registration exercise and usage of a register, there are loop holes identified in the register used which range from need to take out names of dead citizens and also to capture citizenry who for one reason or the other have not been in the country as at the time of registration. Electoral malpractices by electorates during elections, new reforms and other tangible reasons. These reasons give clear indications that any register needs to be changed. Ghana's Constitution stipulates that after years of any registration exercise, the register should be updated for the above reasons.

Who qualifies to be part of the registration exercise is spelt out in the 1992 Constitution in Article 42 and all its chapters. It is primarily, a citizen of Ghanaian descent who has attained the age of 18+ of sound mind at the time of registration.

The current register has been used by the electoral commission for the assembly elections, the yes or no referendum on new regions, and AWW by-election which produces us an MP. All the above which the EC described as successful was done by this current register, now what has changed? Ghanaians want to know, the current register by law ought to be used for the general elections slated for December 2020.

If this current register produces us over 6,600 Assembly Members and over over 33,000 Unit Committee Members, why can't same register produce Only one president and 275 Parliamentarians? What will happen to the register between now and December 7?


The question is, why would a formidable EC and its officials like the Commissioner and the right-hand officials are bending to to change the register? Does their reasons have any legal basis?

The reasons given by the EC to change the register do not add up! Simply put, has no iota of truth in it.

Taking a cursory look at the chunk of money to be used in putting a new register in place in lieu of the serious problems Ghanaians face seems like a waste of the taxpayers' money.

The EC must take into consideration the view of the majority of Ghanaians, it should take off its political lenses and analyses its reasons for opting for a new register.

We are amazed Ghana has such huge amounts of money to waste but still goes on lending sprees for God knows what developmental projects earmarked only to win political points!

The recent challenges citizens had to go through during the NIA card registration should educate us to stay away from another registration exercise. So, we can not use just one card to transact financial, electoral, and any other businesses? Oh, have we not heard that the countries we aspire to be like or blindly copy policies from putting better measures in place for their citizens? Ghana, my beloved country, when will you be the Ghana outsiders think you are? We portray to outsiders that all is well but we all know that the opposite exists!

Mr. President remember your renowned quote, "we know what to do to bring our economy back to life, what we do not know is how to bring people back to life".

In fact, it behoves the EC to retract it's obsessed decision to go ahead no matter what Ghanaians say to put a new register in place before the forthcoming general elections in December.

Even, come to think of this, if a birth certificate can produce a passport, that same birth certificate can produce a Ghana Card, and Ghana Card can produces voters'ID, passport can also produces voters' ID But, the birth certificate that had produces these two documents can't produce voters'ID! Isn't this ridiculous? This is not the Ghana I used to know.

"I am a citizen, not spectator"

If you are for peace, we are for peace, but if you're for war, we are for resistance.

We are not without fear that if the EC goes ahead to do the unthinkable, the stubborn fly will definitely follow the corpse to the grave. EC can not trade the peace Ghanaians have with the ulterior motive of pleasing its paymasters just to mar the peace we have in Ghana! "a word to a wise is enough".
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