John Dramani Mahama, the leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 elections, raised concern about the Electoral Commission’s resolve to turn into a compliant weapon for the advancement of the political aims of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and President Akufo-Addo.
According to reports from last week, the Electoral Commission has said that anyone wishing to be added to the current registration must do so using their Ghana Card.
The fact that the Ghana Card wasn’t used as identification during the generation of the register has led to the Minority in Parliament’s vehement criticism of the Electoral Commission’s action.
In response, John Dramani Mahama, a former president of Ghana, claimed that the Electoral Commission “takes pleasure in making it difficult for our citizens to participate in elections, instead of making it easy for our citizens to participate in elections.”
A foolish fixation on using the Ghana Card as the only form of identity for a voter card, he continued, “appears intent to secure the disenfranchisement of sections of our community at any means.”
He asked, “How do you do this, knowing that not everyone who qualifies for a Ghana Card can get one?”
The Ghana Card is a very recent addition to our way of life, but it does have some advantages overall. At the moment, it is being used more as a political weapon around which other election-related plans are being developed.
Before implementing this kind of counterproductive exclusion of all other legally acquired, reputable, and time-tested forms of identity, it is necessary to give it enough time to fully integrate into our way of life.
The National Identification Authority cannot assert that it has registered every Ghanaian who is required to do so or that it has given out all of the printed cards to those who have been entered into its database. Thousands of cards that were supposed to be given out to registered users were never delivered.
There must be space created for individuals who have not yet been served to exercise their democratic rights to vote until complete and total coverage in the rollout of the Ghana Card has been attained. They cannot be taken off the voter list for no fault of their own.
This ought to be obvious and simple to understand.
Therefore, it is obvious that the Electoral Commission’s haste in banning all other forms of identification was motivated by an ulterior motive. You, members of the Minority, highlighted concerns last week about possible moves to create a new register solely based on the Ghana Card. The Electoral Commission has come out quickly to refute any such claims.
This denial would have put an end to the situation had the Commission’s present leadership not taken over. The Commission in its current form is known to have broken such promises in the recent past, therefore the NDC will keep an ever-vigilant eye out to make sure that doesn’t happen.
To prevent fraud and exploitation to the unfair advantage of any party, the Electoral Commission’s proposed continuous registration process must include a system that allows all political parties and important stakeholders to monitor it in real-time. The NDC will adamantly insist on this.
The full statement from his official Facebook page is below
