EC asked to be independent on voters register

The Reverend Dr Paul Yaw Frimpong-Manso, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God church, Ghana, has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to study all concerns raised by individuals, civil society groups and some political parties on the voters register and independently and dispassionately deal with them.

He said petitions forwarded to the EC should be carefully examined before they come out with their final verdict on the register.

“I don’t think the EC should be a player referee, it’s wrong, because they have also been implicated in the whole thing”, he added.

Rev. Frimpong Manso made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Tarkwa in the Western region, after he inaugurated the mid Northern regional branch of the Assemblies of God church, Ghana.

The general superintendent appealed to Ghanaians to exercise restraint and allow the five member committee set-up by the EC, to hold the public hearing on the voters register, to complete their work.

He said it is their findings and recommendations that would determine if a new voter’s register should be prepared or not.

He, however, advised the EC that if the committees report turns out that the voters register is clean or there are few mistakes, it should be audited and used for the next elections.

Rev. Frimpong-Manso stressed that if on the other hand the report comes out with a tampered register, which is not credible, the EC should spend money to replace it.

According to him, using a false voter’s register will undermine the elections, and that could cause mayhem in the country.

He urged the EC to work in sincerity to avoid a repetition of the election petition that arose after the 2012 elections, adding that, it did not help anybody but rather derailed the nation.

“And I will not say those who went to court did well or wrong because they wanted justice,” he added.

Rev. Frimpong-Manso therefore entreated the EC to come out with a credible voter register that would erase misconceptions in the Ghanaian society.