An independent Presidential Candidate in the 2016 election, Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah, has urged eligible Ghanaians to turn out in their numbers to register during the voters registration exercise which begins Tuesday.
In a press release, Mr Yeboah said the registration exercise was an avenue which would enable Ghanaians to exercise their franchise in the 2020 election.
“The JOY2020 team would like to encourage all Ghanaians to go and massively register so they can have the opportunity to vote out the NPP and NDC in the 2020 December election,” he said.
Independent judiciary
Mr Yeboah said the judgement by the Supreme Court was a demonstration of the court’s independent nature which had never been in doubt.
“By this verdict, justices of the Supreme Court have reinforced the learned attribute of the bench, the independence of the Judiciary by upholding the belief that the three judges had not died in vain in 1982 in their determination to serve justice despite the danger of guns and the revolutionary era,” he said.
Background
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the Electoral Commission’s (EC’s) decision to use the Ghana Card and the Ghanaian passport as the only identification documents that would allow a Ghanaian to register in the upcoming mass voters registration exercise.
The court, therefore, dismissed two legal actions that were seeking the inclusion of an existing voter identification (ID) card and a birth certificate as part of the identification documents.
The first suit seeking the inclusion of an existing voter ID card was filed by the biggest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), while the second one seeking the inclusion of the birth certificate was filed by one Mr Mark Takyi-Banson, in his capacity as a Ghanaian.
As a result of the decision, the highest court of the land directed the EC to commence the voters registration exercise as scheduled. The EC fixed Tuesday, June 30 to Monday, August 6, 2020 to register citizens for the voters roll.
The court also ordered the EC to conduct the registration exercise in compliance with the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) (Amendment), 2020 (C.I.126), the law regulating the upcoming registration exercise, and Articles 42 and 45 of the 1992 Constitution.
Also, the Supreme Court ordered that any court in the country which was hearing a case challenging the upcoming voters registration exercise ought to rule on that case based on the decision by the apex court.
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