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Opinions of Sunday, 3 January 2016

Columnist: Adofo, Rockson

Ghana is Teetering on the Brink of Civil Unrest Because of Charlotte Osei

Ms Charlotte Osei, the Chair of the Ghana Electoral Commission does not give a tinker's cuss about what the discerning Ghanaians who form the majority think about the future of Ghana as a result of the consequences of the bloated voter's register should it intransigently be used for election 2016.

With her determination to obstinately stupidly connive with the NDC and President John Mahama to use the clearly proven bloated voter's register for election 2016, giving the NDC undue advantage over their political competitors, she has pushed the country to a point where one can without mincing words say that it is teetering on the brink of civil unrest, if not civil war.

From a publication I put out on Modernghana, Ghanaweb and News Ghana on 27 October 2015 as per the following link, http://www.modernghana.com/news/651811/how-was-the-5-member-public-forum-committee-to-determine-the-credibility-of-the-voters-register-form.html, I questioned the credibility, and the selection, of, the 5-member panel by Ms Charlotte Osei to gather the views of all stakeholders to subsequently advise her on whether or not there is the need for a new voter's register.

My worst nightmare has been confirmed by the decision of the panel to not go for a new voter's register as wished by the majority of Ghanaians to ensure a fair, credible and transparent election 2016. The panel was already partisan and biased as made vivid in my said publication.

One Alhaji Bature Iddrisu, the Managing Editor of that substandard Al hajj newspaper, is on record to have strongly implored President Mahama and the NDC to never yield in to any pressure to replace the allegedly bloated voters register or else, the NDC will lose election 2016. What complete nonsense that advice was! Why will replacing a perceived or a clearly proven bloated register by a credible one lead to NDC losing election 2016 as admonished against by Alhaji Bature? Does that not suggest to any reasonable Ghanaian who has the interest and the collective welfare of Ghanaians at heart that the NDC is up to some malignity of some sort?

In Ghana, many people always express the view of protecting the peace that we have been enjoying since the end of the murderous J. J. Rawlings' AFRC and PNDC military junta regimes. They however, forget that peace must be preceded by justice. Peace is the by-product of justice. As it is in "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and everything shall be added unto you", so should we seek first justice and peace will surely follow.

If we become scared that should we rattle Ms Charlotte Osei with our demand for a new voter's register the NDC will get annoyed and then disturb the peace of the country because they are in power and have sophisticated arms at their disposal, then the NDC will continue to rule Ghana as "yen ntie obiaa ebe dii bi keke" government and party to the general detriment of the nation and Ghanaians.

We should not feel intimidated by the NDC all of the time. There is time for everything; time to enjoy peace, and time to go to war; time to be born, and time to die; etc. We should be ready to counter the complete nonsense by the Chair of the Electoral Commission and her accomplices who are the said 5-member panel and the NDC government and party.

We need a credible voter's register by which everybody will be satisfied with the outcome of election 2016. In order not to waste my breath, I shall suggest the underlying three options to guarantee justice and peace for Ghana this election year.

· There should be many and persistent public demonstrations to insist on having a new credible voter's register for election 2016. It should not be the usual one-day-wonder types that make them believe that as long as the whirlwind will settle, they will not listen to anyone but will do as they have determined; exploit Ghana to the hilt by official corruption and blatant practice of tribalism.

· We should write repeatedly to our foreign partners or the country's international stakeholders, to intervene to get Ms Charlotte Osei and President Mahama and NDC see reason before they plunge the nation into chaos by their intransigence and propensity to defraud the nation and the people of Ghana at any least opportunity.

· The nation's armed forces can step in to clean up the mess but without executing anyone as done in 1979 by the AFRC regime, to strengthen the institutions for election 2016. Except the military are corrupt themselves, they can step in to save Ghana from total collapse as the current conditions clearly show that Ghana is precariously dangling from a socio-politico-economic precipice.

This is my take on the ridiculously obstinate attitude to the request for a credible new voter's register by Ms Charlotte Osei and her "create, loot and share" accomplices.

Rockson Adofo