<<Print>>

Former Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Ocquaye has lambasted lawyers in the country over issues regarding Ghana's electoral system.

Addressing a gathering at a national debate forum conducted by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Professor Mike Ocquaye stated emphatically that "no lawyer" in Ghana can define "over-voting" as it pertains to the electoral system of Ghana.

According to him, the inability of any lawyer explaining what over-voting and the biometric verification system actually means speaks volumes about Ghana's future.

“No lawyer can tell you what over-voting means in Ghana by serious application of the law. And we think unexamined life is good enough for the people of Ghana. Please, it’s not serious enough. If anyone tells you we should not be re-examining ourselves in this regard, I wonder what kind of future that person expects from the people of Ghana.

“We don’t know for sure in law what biometric verification means…Law doesn’t operate in that haphazard manner. So, it means we’re operating in a lawless manner. Lawlessness is for the jungle; not for a Republic that wants to develop in the 21st Century.”

He further called for a new voters' register and a legal framework to check its validity.

“We must not only have a new register but a new register compiled against the background of a legal regime that itself is valid…Distinguished ladies and gentleman, during and after the Supreme Court trial; one resounding echo filled the hemisphere. There is the need for a serious re-examination of our electoral system. One year approximately towards going into another election, we’re silent about it. And we want the world to believe we are serious people, when in law, we could not even define what is over-voting?”

Professor Mike Oquaye was delivering a speech at the IEA Conference Hall on Tuesday on theme: "Towards a Credible and Peaceful 2016 Elections: A Review of the State of Ghana's Voters' Register and the Way Forward."