Opinions of Wednesday, 30 September 2020

Columnist: Raymond Ablorh

Who cares if Jean Mensa is an idol worshipper?

Jean Mensa, EC Chairperson Jean Mensa, EC Chairperson

The EC must explain to Ghanaians how the officially recorded number of registered voters moved from a little over 16.6M to 17.7M even after removing the 60,000 duplicates they claimed they detected.

This Arithmetic of 16.6M - 60,000 = 17.7M is too difficult to comprehend even by a genius.

Sincerely, many Ghanaians don't care whether Jane Mensah is Buddhist, Moslem, Hari Krishna, Traditional African Worship, Pagan or electoral covenant keeping Christian.

We know what's at stake in the 2020 elections; what we care about is a thoroughly clean voter register and free and fair elections even if it will be organised by an Atheist who has no convenant with any deity to organise a violence free, peaceful and fair elections.

The road our EC is taking to the 2020 polls is bumpy. We can never accept any register that is dirtier and suspicious than what the EC claimed was bloated and unclean. This one is worse than what they condemned.

That's what the Chair and her people must know. They've unique opportunity to save this already polarised nation from further degeneration.

There's a tendency some may think after 28 years of relatively stable democracy, we're safe to play on tiny ropes across this dangerous electoral ocean.

Many seem to have forgotten that not long ago in 2008, we stood on a very dangerous violence cliff in a very tensed atmosphere that got people shivering in their rooms. We saw what some people also did at Obra Spot at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in 2012.

The reality is that there are more unemployed energetic young hands than we've ever had in our history.

If we know what that means in the face of the ugly reality, we'll re-think and avoid this slippery and foggy path the EC is taking us this dawn without light.

If there is any assurance, it's in transparently addressing the concerns of various stakeholders amidst the ill-suscipions and mistrust characterising our politics. Not telling us what convenant or oath EC officials have sworn with deities.

Which of our leaders didn't swear with the Bible or Quoran to serve all manner of citizens justice or protect our public purse?