Electoral fault-lines

Yesterday marked day one of the ongoing exhibition of the voters’ register.

It is significant that the exercise is being undertaken on the heels of the Supreme Court order that the names of those who registered with NHIS cards should be deleted from the voters’ register.

Besides such exhibitions are standard procedures prior to polling date anyway.

Myriad flaws have greeted the exercise regarding figures and facts.

Although some persons never registered for the NHIS, let alone use such identification for the purpose of voter registration, their names were deleted, as others had their details simply jumbled up.

The Electoral Commission (EC), as we stated in an earlier commentary, has a few more opportunities to distance itself from the tag of mischief and tendentiousness being festooned around it: society largely regards its integrity with a pinch of salt.

We have stated before that the EC needs to win the confidence of most Ghanaians for the outcome of the general election it is going to prosecute, to be credible.

The current revelations leave much to be desired in this regard regrettably.

The exercise, which is beginning to show blemishes, is giving impetus for doubting Thomases to question the credibility of what the EC submitted to the Supreme Court as being the roll call of those who registered with the NHIS cards.

We have no cause to doubt their fears considering the reckless management of the data, whose fault-lines are popping up so glaringly as the exhibition days elapse.

The confidence with which an aggrieved man spoke about how he has never registered for the NHIS yet had his name deleted yesterday on air calls for a thorough consideration of the subject under review.

The processes leading up to election are as important as the D-Day and the H-Hour when the outcome would be announced.

The time to rectify these crooked situations is now, lest the outcome is scorned at and rejected. You don’t expend so much public funds with donor support only to have it rejected amidst volumes of questions about credibility.

Charlotte must not dismiss the questions being posed and the challenges which are rearing their heads. If these can be dismissed now by labeling their sources as rabble-rousers, same cannot hold when the curtains are drawn over the polls and the lapses overwhelming.

Ghanaians won’t accept previously acceptable challenges of shortages of logistics and delayed delivery of same to the polling stations.

Let the EC use the unfolding lapses to fine-tune the general elections which are, though faraway, yet close.

Let her listen to the public outcry and engage the various interest groups with a view to showcasing an improved polls management relative to the 2012 one.

Warped general elections, when the time is due, would suggest that lessons have not been learnt from 2012. Under such circumstances, we would be hard-pressed not to sneer at the monitoring and evaluation functions of the EC.

Let the NHIS registered names be deleted sincerely in a manner devoid of hanky-panky traits.