The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is increasingly becoming panic-stricken ahead of the 2020 general election.
Like an old lady hearing of dry bones, the NDC always become jittery when electoral reforms are suggested, starting with transparent ballot boxes in 1996, voter identification cards with pictures and lately biometric voters’ register among others.
What we do not understand is why, over the years, the party has resisted attempts to do away with electoral processes or documents that are highly contaminated.
It is well known by all with candour, that the current electoral roll is hugely contaminated and all attempts to replace it with the state-of-the-art equipment should not raise any eyebrows.
Unfortunately, the main opposition NDC has refused to repudiate its longstanding apparent dislike for electoral reforms.
Last week, the party, through its National Chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo made spurious allegations that the Electoral Commission (EC) and the National Identification Authority (NIA) were conspiring to rig the 2020 polls for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Pieces of evidence to back these specious claims defy logic and all well-meaning Ghanaians should dismiss them with alacrity.
The NDC is simply not departing from its brute stance ever since President Akufo-Addo appointed Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa as the new EC Chairperson.
It would be recalled that the NDC big shots described the appointment of the current chairperson of the country’s election management body as shocking.
The party saw her mandate as “only in terms of getting Nana Akufo-Addo re-elected”.
As a sequel, the NDC General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia labelled Mrs Jean Mensa as “a ‘King Kong’ who has come to change everything she met in the office”.
This was after the Jean Mensa-led EC indicated plans were underway to change the Israeli company, SuperTech Ltd (STL) from handling the data of the country’s voters’ register.
When the EC explained why a foreign company should not control our national data, the NDC again reacted, insisting the decision was “part of a plot by Jean Mensa to rig the 2020 polls in favour of President Akufo-Addo”.
According to the NDC, the conduct of the commissioners at the EC, “so far portends a devious plan to set the stage to suppress voter numbers in the strongholds of the NDC and to bloat voter numbers in the strongholds of the NPP”.
Recent allegations by the NDC, we dare say, are therefore part of a grand scheme being systematically deployed to tarnish the image of the current election management body, so there will be excuses of some supposed rigging when the main opposition party loses the 2020 general election.
The EC has a constitutional function to perform in ensuring that general elections are free, fair and transparent.
We urged the Commission to concentrate in delivering their mandate to the best of their ability and not to be side-tracked by political parties and groups with a politically contrived agenda of character assassination.
