This is the kind of stuff that we want to read, not the junk that people are being fed nowadays across most popular websites.
This is the kind of stuff that we want to read, not the junk that people are being fed nowadays across most popular websites.
Says Who 7 years ago
It appears that some are being primed and configured to play a part in a grand scheme aimed at a massive fraud on the people.
Step One
Keep the people from communicating on D day. Person in Charge -
Step Two
Destroy ... read full comment
It appears that some are being primed and configured to play a part in a grand scheme aimed at a massive fraud on the people.
Step One
Keep the people from communicating on D day. Person in Charge -
Step Two
Destroy authentic verification and facilitate multiple participation by inelligible persons. Person in charge -
Step Three
Monitor outcome and adjust results as necessary during transmission of data. Outfit in charge -
Data analysis indicate that a control centre has already been built at a secure location to prevent the people charging to the facility and disrupting proceedings.
In addition better and advanced monitoring systems are now going to be employed to ensure an early warning on any impending action by the people.
Take the plan to use drones during the election and the new drive to ban any unlicensed drones to prevent others from using the same technology. The excuse given is danger to aviation.
Non military application drones are mainly for recreational and survey purposes and usually pose minimal risks as they are now made lighter and rotors are now covered to prevent incidents of injury.
Tactical drone applications or Eye-in-the-Sky drone systems are employed for purposes which include rescue, security, logistics and information gathering. From the amateur models to advanced systems, it ranges from hand held monitor systems to the high technology systems which can be controlled from anywhere in the world using advanced communication systems.
These ones usually need a lot of training to control and most pilots will need to know the princiles of flight to properly control such units.
The rash decision to implement registeration for the use of drones now and the fact that there has been talk of using drones to monitor security indicates the introduction of hi tech systems to ensure that crowds do not charge facilities that they believe are habouring subversive activities during the elections. They will be seen to be converging long before they are fully mobilised and ready to pounce.
Lessons have been learnt by people on both sides and some are bringing in better technology to ensure that they are not rumbled as they enact plans.
When you have a situation where evidence and information is being kept from the people and plans are actively put in place to keep the people in the dark on very important issues, then something is very, very wrong.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 7 years ago
Good evening Dr Yaw Ohemeng. Hope you are keeping well in Manchester. Just to point out that party or candidate/s agents at polling stations are not staff or representatives of the EC. For that matter it would be a breach of ... read full comment
Good evening Dr Yaw Ohemeng. Hope you are keeping well in Manchester. Just to point out that party or candidate/s agents at polling stations are not staff or representatives of the EC. For that matter it would be a breach of Article 46 of the 1992 Constitution to allow them to take part in the decision as to who should be allowed to vote or not to as well as what form of identification should be accepted. This is because such involvement would be interference in the work of the EC, which is prohibited under Article 46.
Regarding the question of biometric verification or no vote and those who may not present ID cards but allowed to vote, whilst I appreciate the concern for the risk of fraud, it is important to bear in mind that the right to vote is a fundamental human right enshrined in both international and national legislation (Article 25(a)(b) of the UN International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, which Ghana is a party to). This right is also enshrined in Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution. Fundamental human rights should not be taken away lightly and therefore machines should not be the final arbiter. If one is not verified by a machine but the EC official can identify the voter as the person whose photo appears on the voter ID card, why should his or her fundamental right be taken away? Moreover, if s/he has lost her/his voter ID but arrives to vote, if her/his personal details tally with the records on the register, why should the right to vote be denied?
In last month's referendum, I planned to cast my vote on my way to work as I always do. Unfortunately, and for the first time since I moved here in 2005, there was a queue because of the high turn out. To avoid traffic I decide to go to work and vote on my return. I ended up leaving my voting card at the office, yet when I got there I only had to give my name and address and was able to vote without the card because my name and address were on the register. I agree that UK is not Ghana, where people do not have identifiable home addresses. Nonetheless, citizens should not be easily disenfranchised on very basic excuses.
I do remember that soon after NPP lodged their 2012 Presidential Petition at the Supreme Court and asked the SC to annul votes of those who were not verified by biometric machines, I wrote an article that such relief would not be granted because it is a fundamental human right and in liberal democracies such as Ghana, enjoyment of fundamental human rights by citizens are to be enhanced and not curtailed and that was exactly what the all the nine SC Justices did. Even the three who annulled such votes ordered for re-election in the affected polling stations because they did not want to disenfranchise citizens by taking away their right to vote. We should not allow machines and fear of fraud to make us lose our ability to act rationally.
I find it difficult to understand why citizens should not be allowed to vote because a machine failed to recognise them or they have lost their voter ID card, even if they have their details on the voters' register.It does not make sense. Instead of taking away citizens' rights, Ghana should aim to reduce fraud in elections. It is often NDC and NPP who actively encourage such fraud. Remember some people lost their lives fighting for the right to vote.
Yaw Ohemeng 7 years ago
Kofi in a country where systems work and public servants exhibit high professionalism and those who breach laws are sanctioned, I will have no argument with what you are saying.
If we stretch this far, we might say we nee ... read full comment
Kofi in a country where systems work and public servants exhibit high professionalism and those who breach laws are sanctioned, I will have no argument with what you are saying.
If we stretch this far, we might say we need no laws: anyone within the geographic Ghana should turn up to vote. Even the constitution does not give automatic qualification. Once it does not do that, the qualification ought to be satisfied. That satisfaction is through registration and proving that one is registered.
Leaving temporary EC workers to allow people to vote if verification fails is dangerous.
Says Who 7 years ago
Mr Ata bear in mind that voting as you say it is a qualified right. It is foundamental but there are parameters and age is the first example I can give you- children cannot vote because they are below the age of consent and t ... read full comment
Mr Ata bear in mind that voting as you say it is a qualified right. It is foundamental but there are parameters and age is the first example I can give you- children cannot vote because they are below the age of consent and the law states that they cannot be bothered on this issue.
Secondly the foundamental right to vote cannot be used to endorse fraud because such an act is unlawful. If such a fraud is determined in an area to an extent that will make an outcome unreliable the law allows votes to be set aside.
What the Doc is saying is hitting the nail on the head. How do you know someone is citizen if he cannot be verified. The verification systems is intended to capture most voters in the first instance. The fingerprint capture is only intended to validate the information already held. In cases of failure, authentication can be ascertained by questioning the individual on data held; age, place of birth etc. The involvement of party agents in the verification is lawful as they act as witnesses to ensure that any verification process is done correctly.
The example you cited in the UK was along these lines as you were able tp provide biodata which had already been verified. If anyone had presented the card that you left at the office and insisted that he was you, chances are that vote would have come under contention and probably discounted. Furthermore I am sure you noted that the post Brexit petition was quickly swelled by people who could not vote in the referendum itself and stood to lose. They are the same people who voted massively for Cameron goving him the shock election victory that he did not expect himself. They unduly influenced an election against the wishes of the people of Britain. The Referendum has corrected that, much to their chagrin.
The register has to be cleaned by Charlotte ASAP and verification should be be top priority so that numbers are not swelled up to influence the outcome of the election.
Let us not forget what is at stake here. The NDCs take is that the attempt to clean the register is an attempt to disenfranchise their voters, but to the NPP it is a drive to weed out people who should not vote, period. They are not concerned about the leanings of those individuals whether NPP or NDC, If you are not allowed to vote, your name should not be in the register and if it is you should not be allowed to vote simply because your name is in the register.
The NPP want all eligible people to vote.
K Mensah 7 years ago
Kofi Ata please tell us how we can at least minimize the fraud. You are assuming that the electoral officers will miraculously turn into angels on the voting day.
Kofi Ata please tell us how we can at least minimize the fraud. You are assuming that the electoral officers will miraculously turn into angels on the voting day.
Useless write up meant only for the gullible
This is the kind of stuff that we want to read, not the junk that people are being fed nowadays across most popular websites.
It appears that some are being primed and configured to play a part in a grand scheme aimed at a massive fraud on the people.
Step One
Keep the people from communicating on D day. Person in Charge -
Step Two
Destroy ...
read full comment
Good evening Dr Yaw Ohemeng. Hope you are keeping well in Manchester. Just to point out that party or candidate/s agents at polling stations are not staff or representatives of the EC. For that matter it would be a breach of ...
read full comment
Kofi in a country where systems work and public servants exhibit high professionalism and those who breach laws are sanctioned, I will have no argument with what you are saying.
If we stretch this far, we might say we nee ...
read full comment
Mr Ata bear in mind that voting as you say it is a qualified right. It is foundamental but there are parameters and age is the first example I can give you- children cannot vote because they are below the age of consent and t ...
read full comment
Kofi Ata please tell us how we can at least minimize the fraud. You are assuming that the electoral officers will miraculously turn into angels on the voting day.