The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which has been adamant in its call for a forensic audit of the provisional voters register for the 2024 general election was found wobbling at Inter-Party Advisory Committee meeting yesterday.
NDC led by its Director of Elections and IT, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, could not put forward their claim of over 50,000 death people in the electoral roll, more than 240,000 voters wrongfully transferred and 15,000 unidentifiable transfer files among others before the IPAC.
Dr. Omane Boamah who was given ample time to present their evidence and challenge the data cleaning process by the Electoral Commission (EC), rather used his time in giving fairy-tales and proverbs.
Even a challenge from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong for the NDC to present its evidence before the Committee, did not elicit any meaningful response.
The NPP General Secretary described the calls for a forensic audit as “needless” and further dared the NDC to provide comprehensive data supporting its claims for review.
“The people of Ghana want to see your data. We want to see your allegations and subject them to strict proof,” Mr. Kodua Frimpong told NDC.
However, Dr. Omane Boamah, only reaffirmed NDC’s demand for a forensic audit of the EC’s Information Technology systems to enhance confidence in the voters’ register.
“It would only take forensic audit of the I.T. systems of the EC to establish the footprints of exactly where the illegal voter transfers took place,” he insisted.
He told IPAC that it was “not strategic” for the NDC to provide the EC with the full data backing its claims, adding that the party would meet to decide on the next line of action after the meeting.
During the meeting, it was only the People Progressive Party (PPP) out of the other eight political parties that supported the NDC’s call for forensic audit of the voters’ register.
‘Take out propaganda’
The Director of Elections of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr. Habib Yakubu told the NDC to take out propaganda in their dealings with the EC.
“I would also like to say this to the NDC; that, they should take out propaganda from every argument that they raise, that leads to electrifying the system.
“The temperature is so high in this country just as my senior brother Hassan Ayariga said. Ghana must survive and Ghana must live on beyond elections, and this is what must guide us. I mean, calling for demonstrations against a document that is at a draft stage, I mean, for God sake, that is really, really above board.
“We know; everybody understands the word provisional. Also, the media, I think you should also stop participating in this kind of things that hypes the situation too much; by giving too much listening ear to NDC, when issues are being taken on a propaganda level. You should be able to differentiate. And know that Ghana stands first and Ghana must win. On this note I would say, we are all happy today,” Mr. Yakubu jabbed NDC.
Agreement
Meanwhile, the EC and various political parties have agreed to work together to address the challenges related to the Provisional Voters’ Register ahead of the 2024 general election.
They all acknowledged that ensuring a clean voters’ register was a collective responsibility, and that all stakeholders must contribute to make the register more robust.
For the first time in IPAC’s history, proceedings were broadcast live to the public and the media, civil society organizations (CSOs) as well as the diplomatic community were permitted to participate as observers.
The EC said the development, which would be repeated at all subsequent IPAC meetings, formed part of measures to deepen transparency and build trust ahead of the December 7 polls.
EC’s presentation
At the beginning of the meeting, the EC made an extensive presentation on the measures it had taken to address all identifiable discrepancies in the voters’ register.
The EC’s Chairperson, Mrs Jean Mensa, said the exhibition exercise conducted by the Commission provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to flag errors in the register, among other legal remedies provided in the electoral law to address discrepancies in the draft register.
She said the Commission had resolved the discrepancies that were identified in the register during the exhibition exercise.
Mrs. Mensa said that calls for a forensic audit of the voters’ register were premature, emphasising that the Commission had not yet exhausted all available processes to clean and rectify the register.
“The voters’ register is a draft not the final register. It is not perfect and not final,” she said, adding that “the register today is more accurate than what was exhibited and presented to the political parties in August this year.”
Mrs. Mensa announced that the Commission would soon make the provisional voters’ register available online to enable registered voters to verify their details at no cost.
She also assured the political parties that the Commission would furnish them with an updated Provisional Voters’ Register in the “next week or two” for further review before the certification of the register.
Best approach
Mr. Peter Mac Manu, Director of Elections for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Campaign Team, expressed the party’s strong belief in the EC’s methods, describing them as the “best” legally prescribed approach to address discrepancies in the voters’ register.
While supporting calls for collective input to clean the register, some of the political parties appealed to the EC to plan for voters in underserved communities who may not be able to participate in the online voters’ exhibition exercise.
Data provided by the EC indicated that as of Monday, September 30, 2024, the total number of registered voters stood at 18, 772,795, comprising 9,690,173 males, and 9,082,622 females.
The total number of first-time voters stood at 708,282.
