Two groups, the Evergreen Patriotic Group (EPG) and the ECOWAS Youth And Citizens League, have both called on the Electoral Commissioner (EC), Charlotte Osei to adhere to the numerous calls from well-meaning Ghanaians for a new voters’ register in the interest of the nation.
The EPG, which is an offshoot of New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Madina, made the call at a press conference organized at the forecourt of Oman Fm also at Madina last Sunday.
Making reference to the fallouts from the 2012 Supreme Court petition and recommendations, Communications Director of the group, Daniel Kweku Abana wondered why the new EC has ignored the calls for the new register despite the fact that her predecessor, Dr. Afari Gyan had categorically declared the commission had no mechanism to clean the bloated register.
The Communications Director further mentioned that Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan further questioned the credibility of the voters register on the basis of numbers, saying that “if our population is indeed 22 million, then perhaps 13 million people on our register would be statistically unacceptable by world standards; if that is the case, then it may mean that there is something wrong with our register.”
Mr. Abana referred to excepts from the President John Mahama’s interview granted by the Daily Graphic in 2008 and reported by Donald Ato Dapatem.
“With the current national population of 22 million having almost 13 million people on the register is unheard of,” the president said.
The Communications Director stressed that these development had no doubt made dignitaries such as Kofi Anan, former president Rawlings and Kufour, among others, to also add their voice to the calls.
He urged the EC to rise up to the challenge and work independently and stop taking sides with the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which insists on the so-called cleaning of the voters register.
The ECOWAS Youth and Citizens League also appealed to the EC Commissioner to listen to the voice of the majority of Ghanaians which is the voice of God and replace the register.
In a press release jointly signed by its National Chairman Fabien Williams and Daniel Kwame Antwi, Director of Communications, the group asked that Ghanaians, who are discerning, should not be taken for granted. “We pray that the EC would play its mandated role genuinely and transparently so that the peace we are enjoying in the country would not be disturbed,” the league added.
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