The Electoral commission headed by the obstinate Jean Mensah is bent on grasping the nettle of using the Ghana Card as the sole means of identification for the intended new voter’s register which is needless, to begin with despite the numerous calls by well-meaning Ghanaians for the commission to have a rethink of this intended exercise.
We were in this country when the commission told the whole country that a new register was needed for the 2020 elections since the 2016 voter’s register was over bloated. So, one would have imagined that having spent precious taxpayers’ money to compile a new voter’s register in 2020, would have sufficed for the 2024 elections.
Yet, because of the plot to rig the elections for the NPP, the commission wants to waste taxpayers’ money again by compiling a new register and is resolved on using the Ghana Card as a gambit to disenfranchise millions of Ghanaians especially those in the Opposition strongholds. It is worthy of note that, well-meaning Ghanaians and respectable Statemen like Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan the renowned and highly revered Ghana’s longest serving electoral commissioner have all cautioned and spoken against the use of the Ghana card as the sole Identification for the new register which is a recipe for chaos.
However, Jean Mensah and her paymasters are ready to jeopardize the peace and stability the country is enjoying due to their selfish and parochial interests and are on a perilous path to disregard the words of wisdom from the likes of Dr. Afari Gyan and other well meaning-Ghanaians.
Not long ago, two deputy commissioners from the Electoral Commission have been in the news claiming that the new C. I in parliament is just for continuous registration.
However, in a Radio XYZ interview granted by the Director of Elections of the NDC, Hon. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah stated that “after the draft constitutional instrument ( C.I) for the 2024 election is passed, the EC will then file a suit in the Supreme Court that will allow them to remove the names of all the people who used documents other than the Ghana card to register for the 2020 elections”. He went further to explain that section 33 of the new C. I which talks about revocation and savings reads, “C. I 91 is thereby revoked. 2. C. I 126 is thereby revoked. Subtly, per this draft C.I if accepted, the C. I 91 will be thrown out.
The C.I 126 which was for the 2020 elections, will also be thrown out. This will pave way for the current C. I when approved to be the governing law for the 2024 elections”. The hatched plan of the EC is to then run to the Supreme Court and argue that the law only allows persons with the Ghana card to be on the register and that voters with the old voter I.D card cannot vote and would have to obtain a new voter I.D card by registering again with the Ghana card as the sole means of Identification. With the current attitude of the Supreme Court, it is likely the Electoral Commission will obtain a unanimous seven ruling in their favour.
The outcome of this could have dire consequences on our elections and could disenfranchise millions of Ghanaians who by no fault of theirs could not have access to the Ghana card to register and vote in the 2024 elections.
The silent nature of the peace council especially on this matter leaves much to be desired. The peace council should not sit quietly and wait till December 2024 to start preaching peace when millions of Ghanaians would have already been disenfranchised, that advice would have been too late.
The best advice they can give now is to call the electoral commissioner to order and give her a piece of proper advice to ensure that her actions and indications do not mar the peace we are enjoying in the country.
Parliament must also stand and be counted and keep the commission on its toes. The new C. I must not pass. We trust the minority caucus in parliament to be the voice of the voiceless and help prevent the nation from going through any form of chaos because of the diabolic plans of jean Mensah and her team by ensuring that the new C. I from the Electoral Commission is rejected.
The good people of this beloved country called Ghana are not ready and prepared to trade the peace and stability they are enjoying with violence, chaos, and anarchy. We want Jean Mensah and her paymasters to be reminded that the power they are enjoying today, stems from the good people of this country and that the people deserve some modicum of respect and decency. Let Jean Mensah and her paymasters be reminded once again that power will always change hands no matter how long it takes so they should be very careful with the way and manner they are toying with Ghanaians.
We the good people of this beautiful country and NDC USA will not sit down unconcerned to watch and allow Jean Mensah to destroy this beautiful Country through this unnecessary and unwarranted compilation of the supposed new register with the Ghana card as the sole means of identification.
We will use all legal means available to us as concerned citizens, not spectators to ensure that the right thing is done and that no Ghanaian who is qualified to vote is disenfranchised through this obnoxious Ghana card claptrap. We also want to remind Jean Mensah that Ghanaians are not ready to give away the democratic governance of rule of law to rule of men. Ghanaians are ready to END THE EIGHT.
No amount of intimidation and machinations will prevent the good people of this country from coming out in their numbers come December 2024 to vote massively for the NDC and His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, the incoming president of Ghana. Jean Mensah must be advised to do the needful and tread cautiously. A word to a wise is enough. Long live Ghana, long live NDC, and may God bless us all.
Signed
Maame Aba Dadzie
Chairman
NDC USA
