<<Print>>

At the count of the last ballot paper in 2016, members of the New Patriotic Party would be heading home in despondency a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has forecasted.

Alhaji Ibrahim Dori, an aspiring Member of Parliament for Bawku Central tells Peacefmonline.com in an interview that leaders of the NPP know they stand no chance of recapturing power from the NDC, and for this reason, are clutching at a straw by agitating for a new voters’ register.

“I can tell you the NPP isn’t really interested in the change of register. They are anticipating defeat in the 2016 elections and this has forced them to generate this debate. They are just preparing a case they can point at and generate sympathy after they have lost the 2016 elections”, he said.

Considering the timing for a new voter roll, Alhaji Ibrahim Dori described it as “bad” and pointed out that with barely 12 months to a general election, it would be extremely difficult for the Electoral Commission (EC) to produce a flawless register.

The NDC scribe believes if there are any anomalies the NPP has uncovered, he expects them to tender in their evidence for the commission to deal with using their internal mechanisms.

The NPP has asked for a new voters’ register after it alleged that the old one had been bloated. The Vice Presidential Candidate of the party, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, alleged that about 80,000 foreign nationals had been registered on the current register.

Their concerns pushed the EC to ask for proposals for a possible creation of a new register from various parties and groups.

Following the EC’s request, various political parties and civil society organisations in Ghana have aired out their views on the problematic voters’ register.

But the main opposition NPP and the governing NDC maintain an entrenched position of new register and cleaning the existing one respectively.