‘We’ve not shown enough anger to scare EC to drop new voters' register - NDC Man

A Communication team member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Eric Sosu has admonished the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to continue to pile pressure on the Electoral Commission (EC) so it will drop the idea of compiling a new register.

He told Rainbow Radio the NDC has not agitated enough hence the refusal by the EC to compile the new register.

To him, the NDC must put in all efforts to get the EC to drop the idea since it is a waste of resources.

The money meant for the register he said could be channeled to other areas.

He recounted how the agitations surrounding the compulsory towing levy, the botched referendum and the Power Distribution Services (PDS) deal were all withdrawn due to the agitations by the NDC.

He said just like the NDC agitated and had the PDS deal canceled and the decision to make the assembly election partisan dropped, we should also do it and have the compilation of the new register dropped.

Mr. Eric Sosu added despite being an autonomous body, the officers at the EC are appointed, and they are supposed to work in the interest of the nation and not a political party. The EC must work with its stakeholders in ensuring accountability, transparency, and free and fair elections.

He stressed the need for the EC to heed to the call and drop the idea to compile the new register because ‘’it is a waste of state resources”.



He added the EC has failed to convince Ghanaians beyond a reasonable doubt that the compilation of the new register is justified.

The EC he said spent millions of dollars on Biometric Voter Registration services in 2016/and related peripherals to support that year’s elections/hence it makes no sense for them to claim the system was obsolete.

He further described as an insult the decision by the EC to award a contract to a company to manage it’s data when there were still controversies surrounding the matter.

The NDC as a party has resisted the decision to compile a new register.

The first protest to challenge plans of the new register was held at Tamale in the Northern region.

The group insists a new register is a waste of taxpayers’ money and could also create tension since the election is close.

He made reference to the 18 civil society groups that have also rejected the call for a new register.

The groups in a statement collectively rejected the decision of the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new voters’ register ahead of this year’s general elections.

The coalition, numbering about eighteen (18) CSOs are the latest to join several groups to criticize the EC’s plan to introduce a new voter management system for the upcoming elections.

The members of the coalition include the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), IMANI Africa, SEND Ghana, Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), Financial Accountability and Transparency, Africa (FAT-Africa), Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and Youth Bridge Foundation.

The others are the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), Citizens Movement against Corruption (CMC), Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC), Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Parliamentary Network Africa (PNA), Community Focus Foundation Ghana (CFF-Ghana), PACKS-Africa and the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC).