GHANA WILL
GO INTO THE NEXT ELECTION WITH AN INCREDIBLE REGISTER
Even though
a voters' register can not be a 100% credible, it is the wish of every
democracy practicing country to make sure that the non credibility of its
voters' register is very much reduced.
This has
become urgent for all such countries because it is believed by most that a
credible register is the very first step to achieving a credible electoral
results.
It is for
this same reason that Ghana under the fourth republic has continuously pushed
for the various electoral reforms since 1992, so to help get our register as
credible as ever.
As a result
of the motivation above, the battle by Ghana to get a credible register for the
2016 general elections has not been different.
In order to
get a credible or near credible register for the 2016 election, Ghana for
years(2013-2016) through serious debates both in the law court and the court of
public opinions finally settled on the cleaning of the existing 2012 Biometric
Register instead of a new register approach.
The
Electoral Commission(EC) therefore suggested a cleaning of the existing
Biometric Register during the period of their
Exhibition Exercise.
It started from
the 21st July, 2016 to 7th August, 2016.
Eventhough
a cleaning of the existing register was not a bad approach to help get a
register clean and thus credible, research conducted by Critical Thinkers
International (CTI) has shown that the objective of this approach with respect
to the cleaning of Ghana's register has totally been defeated due to the wrong
and ineffective Cleaning Method the EC employed in cleaning the existing
Biometric Voters' Register and so, the group is of the belief that Ghana will
go into the next general elections with an incredible register.
Below are
our reasons;
The
objective of the cleaning approach was to help get rid of the dead, National
Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card registrants, foriegners and minors from the
existing Biometric Register, but our research which focused on the removal of
the dead and the NHIS card registrants from the register has shown that
majority of the dead and NHIS Card Registrants are still left in the register
after the Exhibition Exercise through which the EC intended to remove all such
names from the register, has come to an end.
Below is
our analysis to prove our claim.
The
research was conducted in about 50% of the number of constituencies in Ghana
with some of the names of such constituencies being Bimbilla, Chereponi, Wa
west, Ejura-Sekyedomasi, Asawasi, Obuasi West, Adansi Asokwa, Kwabre East, New
Edubiase, Awutu Senya East and West, KEEA, Cape Coast North, Effutu, Ahanta
West, Effia, Kwesimintim, Amenfi West, Nkoransa South and North, Ahafo Ano
West, Asutifi South, Akan, Biakoye, Anlo, South and Central Tongu, Ho west and
Agortime Ziobe.
A. Removal
Of The Dead
Our
research proved that most of the known dead people in the consistuencies, even
those with their obituary notice very fresh in these constituencies were still
found in the register of these constituencies.
Our
research proved that majority of the dead(90%) were not removed because;
i. The
relatives of these dead people who live in the same consistuencies as the
consistuencies that their dead relatives had registered in, did not see the
need to help remove the names of such dead people from the register for reasons
best known to them.
ii. Some of
the relatives of these dead people do not live in the same constituencies their
dead relatives registered in, and so found it needless to incur cost, risk
their lives to travel to get the names of their dead relatives off the register
in such constituencies.
Moreover,
some of the relatives of such dead people do not even know the constituencies
their dead relatives registered in.
iii. Some
of these dead people do not even have records of their relatives so that they
could had even been conducted to help get rid of them from the register.
B. Removal
Of The NHIS Card Registrants
Lots of the
electorates whom we interviewed revealed that majority of them whom used the
NHIS card for the registration during the 2012 biometric registration did not
get their names in the list of the NHIS Card Registrants but rather the many
who did not use the NHIS Card for registration had their names in the list of
the NHIS Card Registrants.
For this
totally failed agenda of getting a credible register for the 2016 general
elections, CTI will fully push the blame on the EC for using such an
incredible, ineffective and a wrong method to help clean the register rather
than the more effective Crabbe Committee's Validation method of which the
majority in and outside Ghana believed it would do a better job.
Since an
incredible register is likely to affect an election results, we suggest the
polling station party agents, polling station electoral officers, the media,
the security agency and all other stakeholders to ensure anyone who trys to
take advantage of the incredible state of the register to attempt any electoral
malpractices to be dealt with appropriately so as to help become a detterrant
to others.
Thank you.
Hhhmm, may
God be praised always
Nana Kwadwo
Akwaa
(WRITER)
........SIGNED......
Critical
Thinkers International
[Creative
Minds; Changing The World]
criticalthinkersintl@gmail.com
www.criticalthinkersghanablogspot.com
.....SPOKESPERSONS......
Nana Kwadwo
Akwaa
+233246913905
/
+233209676413
Adiepena
Mirekua-Sarpong
+233244570177
/ +233508710909
Innocent
Supremo Tetteh
+233243266937
Isaac Baah
+233247227915
Emmanuel
De-Graft Quarshie
+233546641647
/ +233202927554
Anomaa
054 397
6783
Isaac Bonsu
+233205995050
QUARSHIE
egyer joseph
0269560070
/0245607479
Frank Adu
Poku
+8618713368450
Nana Kyei
Baffour
+8615580214166
Isaac Osae
+966595473518
