In a democratic society like Ghana, the Electoral Commission (EC) plays a vital role in ensuring the integrity of the electoral process.
However, to prevent potential abuses of power and ensure that the EC remains impartial, political parties must act as a check on the commission during electoral processes.
Primarily, political parties must ensure that the EC remains impartial and doesn’t favor one party over others.
The EC’s impartiality is crucial in maintaining the trust of all stakeholders in the electoral process.
Political parties can achieve this by monitoring the EC’s decisions and actions, such as the registration of voters, the creation of electoral boundaries, and the accreditation of observers.
Accordingly, Dr. Omane Boamah, Director of Elections and IT for the opposition NDC has directed all NDC agents to exercise heightened vigilance during the upcoming Mop-Up Voter Registration Exercise.
He emphasized that the need for increased vigilance, stressed by the party’s leadership, is due to the fact that the existing voter register, which the Electoral Commission claims has 18,681,366 registered voters, is fundamentally flawed and unreliable.
“From tomorrow, Thursday, 1st August, to Saturday 3rd August, all Ghanaians 18 years and above who are eligible to vote but not already registered as voters will be expected to register at the District offices of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana”.
“According to the EC, the mop-up registration exercise will also be conducted in both 41 prison centers and 26 public universities. Accordingly, we urge NDC agents and political actors across the country to be extra vigilant throughout the three-day registration period”.
Dr. Omane Boamah
Dr. Omane Boamah maintained that NDC agents must remain vigilant, as the EC has still not addressed the significant discrepancies in their voter numbers that the NDC highlighted during the previous IPAC meeting, and has yet to provide a formal response to these concerns.
He pointed out that, surprisingly, the Electoral Commission is moving forward with another voter registration exercise, disregarding the serious concerns and objections raised by the NDC during the last IPAC meeting.
Protecting Ghana’s Democracy
Furthermore, political parties must contribute to the overall health of Ghana’s democratic governance by ensuring that the electoral process is fair and transparent.
When political parties actively participate in the electoral process and ensure its integrity, it enhances the credibility of the elections and the EC.
This, in turn, promotes democratic governance and the rule of law in Ghana.
As such, Dr. Omane Boamah further emphasized that NDC agents need to be extra cautious, as there are still Biometric Voter Registration laptops that were stolen and never recovered, currently in the possession of criminals, posing a significant risk to the integrity of the electoral process.
The Electoral Commission had previously reported that these Biometric Voter Registration laptops were stolen from its own headquarters, ironically, under the watch of CCTV cameras, highlighting a disturbing lapse in security.
He warned that NDC agents need to be vigilant, as the NPP, having failed to manipulate voter boundaries through the voter transfer exercise, may attempt to achieve their gerrymandering goals through this mop-up registration exercise, which could compromise the electoral process.
He emphasized that this is particularly crucial for constituencies where elections have been historically closely contested or marginally won or lost, as they should be especially vigilant and take extra precautions to safeguard their interests during this mop-up exercise.
“And take legitimate action to protect Ghana’s democracy and fix Ghana’s destroyed economy and Ghana’s unprecedented unemployment in order to restore hope to Ghanaians by ensuring Change to reset Ghana. To reset Ghana, the Electoral Commission must stop issuing mere assurances and act timeously to restore confidence in the electoral process”.
“Moreover, the Electoral Commission must accept the need to transparently audit the voters’ register. In addition, the Electoral Commission must answer the parts of the 35 questions we posed at IPAC about the stolen and missing Biometric Equipment, as they promised after consulting their lawyers, even if they’re unable to answer all 35”.
Dr. Omane Boamah
Dr. Omane Boamah also called on security agencies to act professionally and expose and hold accountable any unprofessional NPP elements trying to disrupt Ghana’s peace through manipulation of the security system.
He emphasized that Ghana requires free, fair, transparent, and peaceful elections to attract both local and foreign investment, and also needs a peaceful transition of power on January 7, 2025.
He indicated that while the NDC urges its agents and political actors to be extra vigilant from tomorrow, August 1st to Saturday, August 3rd, 2024, to secure the sanctity of the mop-up exercise, it also once again demands a transparent audit of the entire voters’ register.
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