Dr. Omane Boamah, Director of Elections and IT for the NDC has expressed concern that with only six days left before the 2024 display of the Provisional Voter Register (PVR), political parties have still not received the register.
According to Omane Boamah, the NDC is convinced that the Electoral Commission’s delay in providing the Provisional Voter Register is a result of both gross incompetence and a calculated move to impose a subpar register on political parties within an unreasonably short timeframe.
He further alleged that the Electoral Commission is deliberately delaying the release of the Provisional Voter Register to limit the time available for interested parties to thoroughly review and scrutinize it before the Exhibition commences next week.
“The EC wrote to the NDC on the 18th of July 2024, requesting that we bring an external drive (2 terabytes) for the PVR to be loaded for us. We responded to their request by submitting the external drive with additional requests for all 16 regional registers code books”.
“Unfortunately, for well over two weeks, the EC refused to honor their obligation per CI 91 as amended by CI 126”.
Dr. Omane Boamah
Omane Boamah disclosed that, in a surprising turn of events, the Electoral Commission (EC) wrote to the NDC on August 8, 2024, announcing a sudden change of plans, stating that the Provisional Voter Register (PVR) will now be released on August 14, 2024.
He expressed outrage, noting that the EC’s release of the PVR on August 14, 2024, leaves a mere six days for review before the exhibition begins on August 20, 2024, which he deemed grossly unfair and unreasonable.
The NDC stalwart expressed frustration that the party has been further delayed, with the Electoral Commission now promising to release the Provisional Voter Register on Friday, August 16, 2024, rather than the initially promised date of August 14, 2024.
He noted that the revised timeline has resulted in an unreasonably tight deadline, giving the party merely four days to prepare and dispatch the register to all 38,000 polling stations across Ghana, hindering effective pre-exhibition review.
NDC Flags EC’s IT Weaknesses, Seeks UNDP Support
Furthermore, Dr. Omane Boamah noted that the NDC has long been aware of the Electoral Commission’s struggling IT Department, which prompted the party to previously appeal to the UNDP, during an IPAC meeting, to provide technical assistance to address the department’s inadequacies.
He stated that despite the NDC’s earlier appeal, the Electoral Commission has declined the UNDP’s offer of technical assistance and failed to follow up on it, resulting in the persistent recurrence of avoidable errors.
“We are deeply concerned that the posturing and incompetence of the EC and its IT Department can plunge Ghana into anarchy if not remedied immediately”.
“Recall the chaotic 2023 District Assembly Elections, the recent network failures during the Limited Registration Exercise, as well as Transfers and Proxies. These have exposed the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of the EC”.
Dr. Omane Boamah
As such, Omane Boamah cautioned that the NDC will vehemently oppose this intentional manipulation of the electoral roll, which is clearly designed to unfairly advantage a particular political party.
He bemoaned the fact that the stolen BVR kits, taken from the Electoral Commission’s headquarters while under video surveillance, have yet to be recovered.
Omane Boamah wondered aloud whether the missing BVR kits had been exploited to secretly register ineligible voters, potentially compromising the integrity of the electoral register.
“The sanctity of our electoral system must be upheld at all times irrespective of who is in power”. – Dr. Omane Boamah
Accordingly, the NDC urged Civil Society Organizations, religious groups, and diplomatic missions to closely monitor the actions of the current Electoral Commission, as its actions, rather than just words, will determine its true commitment to conducting credible elections on December 7, 2024.
The NDC demanded that the Electoral Commission immediately release the Provisional Voter Register, stressing that its prompt disclosure is imperative.
