ELECTORAL
VIOLENCE IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN A NEW REGISTER
Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media,
the Let My Vote Count Alliance called you here
this morning for an important national matter. A
matter that can make or break our infant
democracy.
We are concerned because we believe the cost of
fixing what is wrong is far lower than the cost
of not doing it. Every sensible Ghanaian knows
that the way we choose our democratically
elected leaders has major defects which,
happily, can be fixed. Yet, the body responsible
for fixing it remains stubborn on perhaps the
single most major defect: the electoral roll.
Tuesday, Mr Christian Owusu Parry, the Director
of Public Affairs at the EC, said on Adom FM
news that the Commission has no intention of
changing the existing register. Is this really
the position of the Charlotte Mensah-led EC?
Ghanaians sincerely hope not. We know that was
the position of Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. But, what
we want to know is this: has his successor as EC
boss adopted this no new register position as
well? If so, then we want to assure Mrs Osei
that she should prepare for the ugly
consequences.
Ladies and gentlemen, we find this no new
register position very unfortunate and
potentially dangerous and we hope it is not
going to be the official position of the EC
under its new boss. The EC, it must be noted, is
yet to openly and formally engage the political
parties, religious bodies and civil society
organisations who are all raising concerns over
the current register. Also the EC has not come
out with any evidence refuting the case being
made for a new register. The PRO's comment also
indicates that, as usual, the EC has not learned
any useful lessons from its spectacular recent
mistakes and wants to conduct the 2016 elections
with the same fraud-bewitched register, as we
witnessed in the 2012 general elections.
We wish to warn the EC that it risks the
stability and democracy of this country. The
hard-line path it has taken on the register
issue may plunge Ghana into an otherwise
avoidable state of conflict if it doesn't listen
to the calls for a new credible register to set
the bases for credible elections next year.
We are worried also because Mali, Kenya and Cote
d'Ivoire were all once the beacons of peace and
stability in Africa until doubtful elections
brought about conflicts and deaths.
Ghana has no special genetic profile which
guarantees our immunity from conflict. The only
thing that can guarantee us peace, stability and
development is for us to have the courage to do
what is just and right to protect and strengthen
the integrity of our democracy.
If the EC wants peace it must give the country
what the country needs, which is a new voters'
register.
We find it difficult to understand the stubborn
stance of the Electoral Commission, especially,
when all the leading opposition political
parties in the country, the NPP, CPP, PNC, PPP
and NDP, have in various ways and degrees all
stated that there are real problems with the
2012 register.
Moreover, number 4 on the list of the ruling NDC
proposals submitted to the EC’s Electoral Reform
Committee on 27th January 2014 states, “the
Electoral Commission must conduct sustained and
continuous voter registration subject to
periodic rigorous auditing of the registers to
maintain their integrity.” Whether the NDC is
for a new register or not, the ruling party also
appears to be saying that it is equally for a
voters' register with assured "integrity".
Again, the NPP document to the EC Electoral
Reforms Committee, dated 21st March 2014,
paragraph 3 of it states, “In view of the
impending registration of the District Assembly
elections, we ask for an early meeting as the
cleaning of the current register is of
importance to all Ghanaians to ensure that
multiple registrations such as were evidenced in
court are removed and the continuing validity of
the register assured.” Sadly, that meeting never
took place.
Subsequently, the NPP's Bawumia Committee
presented a comprehensive report on Electoral
reforms, in January 2015, with the case for a
new voters' register at the heart of it.
Again, just last week in the Daily Graphic, the
Chairperson and Leader of the CPP, Madam Samia
Yaba Nkrumah, underscored the need for a new
register by saying, "In view of the
controversies the current voters register has
generated election year after election year,
there is no doubt that we need to do something
about it." She went on to stress, "We cannot go
into the 2016 election with the old register."
The underlying statement from all the political
parties is that the current register is faulty
and must be fixed.
We have also heard some deliberate ploy to
reduce the important call for a new register to
one for mere "auditing" of the current register.
The LMVCA wishes to make it absolutely clear
that Ghana does not need a mere auditing of the
2012 register. What we want is a complete
jettisoning of that discredited list for a new
one. It is the only way to fix it.
Ghana is not ready for any fidgeting of a
register which is fundamentally flawed. For
those calling for an audit, we want them to tell
us what exactly do they mean by that? What are
the details and specifics of this audit?
Who will do the auditing? How transparent will
that auditing be? Will it identify the estimated
4 million people who registered using a National
Health Insurance Card? Can it identify
foreigners on the register? Will it fish out the
under age? Will it detect and delete all
multiple registrations? Is the EC aware that the
Supreme Court has ruled the use of NHIS card for
the purposes of establishing voter eligibility
as unconstitutional? Has the EC, since the
ruling, come out to tell Ghanaians how many
people specifically registered using NHIS cards?
For the nearly one year since the ruling, why
has the EC not taken any steps to purge the
register of those who registered with NHIS cards
in order to give them an early opportunity to
register again?
Ladies and gentlemen, Ghana needs a new
register. Ghana does not deserve any bogus audit
of a bogus register.
Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot sit unconcerned
and allow the Electoral Commission to risk the
peace, stability and growth of Ghana’s
democracy.in fact, electoral violence is more
expensive than a new register.
For our democracy to survive and grow, let us do
what is right and just and let us start with a
new register. We hope that the new EC boss will
stamp her authority and integrity on this hot
issue by changing the stubborn attitude of the
EC against all legitimate calls for a new
register.
THANK YOU
……signed……
David Boateng Asante
Spokesperson, LMVCA
July 23, 2015
