The Minority has described as unacceptable and an illegality, the decisions of the National Identification Authority (NIA) and the Electoral Commission (EC) to go ahead with their registration exercises at a time the country is combating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It stated that the decision of the two state institutions to proceed with the Ghana Card and the voter registration exercises on the basis that they could provide personal protective equipment for their staff would expose Ghanaians to infections since they cannot afford same protective gears for the citizenry.
Besides, resuming such exercises would amount to “encouraging the flouting of the President’s directive on the ban on public gathering.”
“We understand that the NIA is going about their registration exercise while the citizens and other public institutions are respecting the President’s directive on public gathering restrictions,” it said.
Call to order
Delivering his closing statement at the first meeting of the fourth session of the seventh parliament, the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, quizzed whether the two institutions are capable of providing PPE for registrants just as they have provided for their staff and whether the decision will not encourage the public to also flout the directives.
“Therefore, I want to call the NIA to order that what they are doing cannot be better than the health of Ghanaians and generality of our population,” he said.
The EC suspended its plans to compile a new voters’ register which was scheduled to begin on April 18, due to COVID-19. It said it was collaborating with health experts to decide on a more favourable date depending on the prevalence rate of the Novel Coronavirus.
It has also submitted to Parliament a Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) which, if passed, shall make the Ghana Card and the Ghanaian passport the only legal identification documents for registering people in the new biometric voters’ register.
Grave concerns
Raising concerns about the threat COVID-19 poses to the health and safety of Ghanaians as well as the economy, Mr Iddrisu questioned why there should be one set of rules for the NIA and different rules for judges and other public entities, saying that that “raises a matter of grave concern.”
He told the House that he had also heard the same comment from the EC that they would go ahead with the voter registration exercise since they could provide PPE for their staff.
“It is not about the safety of your workers; it is about our collective and common safety as a people,” he said.
He pointed out that it was regrettable that eight months into the presidential and parliamentary elections “Ghana is debating what register or electoral role will be used for the purpose of the elections.”
“Our position on the matter has not changed. What we want is free, fair and credible elections conducted by the EC that must respect Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution.
“Mr Speaker, it is very interesting that the birth certificate which gives birth to a passport and a birth certificate which gives birth to the Ghana Card itself is not a qualifying document for registration.
“That is interesting. Only in Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s Ghana that (a) birth certificate is no longer a relevant document for the purpose of voter registration” he said.
EC cannot go on with registration
In a reaction, the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, told the House that the EC could not conduct any voter registration presently since the constitutional instrument it submitted to Parliament had not matured.
“So, no registration exercise could go on without the maturation of the constitutional instrument. It is as simple as that.
“So, whoever is alleging that is doing so in complete ignorance; the EC cannot do that and they know what they are doing,” he emphasised.
Source: Daily Graphic
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Madnesssss all over the place why are some people so foolishhhhhhh that de EC and NIA should go ahead and conduct the exercise to what extent so we want to see our people dieing more because somebody wanting to win an elections at all cost if this is not madnesssss then I don't know what dis means but the lord who rules in the affairs of men will release the virus and they will attack all those who want other people to die they will die first and God will protect his own
I support E C and NIA to go ahead with their mandate if only they can follow the COVID-19 safety protocols. Anybody who thinks it's illegal can go to court to stop them. Why can't those who are crying go to the markets and streets to stop those who are not observing the protocols? They should give us a break.
All those people who just commented are very silly and unintelligent. Why do some silly people just think that anything that NPP is doing or wants to do is the best and correct but whatever NDC is doing or wants to do is wrong and bad. Anybody who thinks and comments in that manner is an ***barred word*** who is so greedy and very ***barred word***. They should at least be reasonable and remember Ghanaians are really suffering very silly and fecal matter eaters.
THE NIA --- 1.NIA SHOULD REOPEN THE REGISTRATION FOR EASTERN REGION, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AND FINISH WITHIN TWO WEEKS. 2.ANYONE WHO COMES OUT TO JOIN THE LINE FOR REGISTRATION MUST HAVE A FACEMASK. 3.COMMUNITY LEADERS (ASSEMBLYMEN, TOWN COUNCIL, CHIEFS) SHOULD HELP TO MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING DURING THE REGISTRATION. 4.ANY COMMUNITY THAT FAILS TO COMPLY SHOULD GET THEIR REGISTRATION RELOCATED TO JOIN THE NEXT ORDERED COMMUNITY. 5.WATER AND SOAP MUST BE AVAILABLE TO WASH HANDS BEFORE THE PICKING OF THE BIOMETRICS. EC--- 1.NEW DATES FOR REGISTRATION MUST BE ANNOUNCED SOON. ADVICE 2-5 FOR NIA MUST ALSO BE APPLICABLE TO EC.
THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. WHAT IS THE THOUGHT OF NDC. FIRSTLY, THEY OBSTRUCTED AND DISRUPTED THE WORK OF EC TO DRAW THE ROADMAP FOR 2020 DECEMBER ELECTIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, NDC MPS DEMANDED FROM EC THE ROADMAP FOR THE ELECTION. NOW THE SAME NDC HOLD THE VIEW THAT THE EC CANNOT WORK OUT THE ROADMAP FOR THE ELECTION. THIS IS ABSURD TO ANY DECENT MIND. NO ONE CANT TELL THE PATTERN OF THE BRAIN CONTAIN IN THE HEADS OF THE NDC PEOPLE. YES, THERE ARE SOME FINE GENTLEMEN AND LADIES IN THE PARTY, BUT NONE OF THEM COUNT ANYMORE. THEY HAVE NO VOICE AND THEY HAVE NO FOLLOWING. THEY NO LONGER MATTER AND NOBODY SUPPORT THEM TO HOLD ANY OFFICE. THEY ARE PUT INTO COMA AND HAVE BECOME SILENT. THE PARTY IS CONTROLLED BY THE UNCULTUREDDDD AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE FUTURE OF GHANA POLITICS IS BLEAK.