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Bloated Ashanti Region voter's register story grossly untrue
- Electoral Commissioner
Accra, March 4, Ghanadot/GNA – Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Djan,
Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), on Tuesday said
the document purported to contain massive increases of
eligible voters in Ashanti Region between 2004 and 2006 was
not authentic.
"The fact of the matter is that those huge figures being
circulated are not authentic and I have given the correct
figure to all representatives of the parties," Dr.
Afari-Djan told the media after an Inter-Party Advisory
Committee (IPAC) meeting held in Accra.
The meeting convened to discuss the upcoming voter ID card
replacement and the replacement of lost voter ID cards and
reopening of the voters’ register was attended by
representatives of all political parties with no journalists
in attendance.
Explaining issues discussed at the meeting, Dr Afari-Djan
said participants were briefed about EC's programmes for the
year and participants sought clarifications.
He said participants expressed concern over the alleged
bloated register but the EC produced and gave them the
authentic figure of six per cent increase in the Ashanti
Region instead of the alleged 113 per cent within the
specified years.
The Chairman said he did not know how the wrong document got
into the hands of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and
who issued that document to them even though he was aware
that the NDC had earlier requested for the register.
Asked if the wrong document being circulated had not dented
the image of the EC, Dr Afari-Djan responded that the
Commission had not done anything wrong.
"The figures we have given them are authentic and any right
thinking person would accept that. We, however, will
investigate the issue as agreed at the IPAC meeting and find
out what went wrong, who gave out CD Rom and punish anyone
found culpable.”
Mr Peter Mac-Manu, Chairman of the New Patriotic Party,
described that document as falsehood which people were
peddling about the EC to demoralize and tarnish its image,
"so that when the EC announces any election results which
are not in their favour, they will (rubbish) it".
He therefore urged the EC to clear its image by making every
effort to unravel how that conflicting figure got into the
public domain.
Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, General Secretary of the NDC said
his party got information on the bloated figure from the EC
on a CD Rom after writing officially to the Commission.
"But now that EC is saying the content on the CD Rom was not
its document, we all agree that an investigation be
conducted to ascertain the truth or otherwise," Mr Nketia
said.
Meanwhile the EC has announced that the voters’ register
would be reopened from May 8 to 17.
GNA
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