Asiedu Nketia accuses EC of seeking to change electoral laws

He accused the Commission of aiming to change the existing law on elections in the country following a proposed Constitutional Instrument (C.I) by the Commission for the continuous registration exercise.

Speaking on Joy News' 'PM Express' show, General Mosquito, as he is known in Ghanaian politics said “this whole idea of trying to throw dust into the eyes of the Ghanaian public that the law is for continuous registration is completely false.”

He stated that Ghana's electoral laws do not provide two separate provisions for registration.

“The same law that will provide for registration can be used for continuous registration, it can be used for limited registration and a total overhaul of the register.

“Going by the history of the Electoral Commission, nobody is convinced if EC just comes out without anything in the law and then to tell us that, believe us, we are going to use it for continuous registration. What happens if they use it for something else?“ Asiedu Nketia quizzed.

He noted that the proposed C.I, when it is passed will imply that “all the laws based on which the previous registers have been done, are all going to be repealed.”

When asked by the host, whether the NDC is suspecting the EC wants to change the law by doing away with the 2020 register, the Chief Scribe said “yes, by their history.”

In explaining his position, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said, “We have been here before… EC has used a health insurance card as a document in registering to build a previous register. That matter was closed and we had a register intact, then somebody goes to court that the Heath Insurance card cannot be used to identify Ghanaians for the purpose of registration … the court ruled and EC was compelled to go back and deleted all the names of people who registered with health insurance card,” he said.

About the C.I.

Per the new C.I, the EC is seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole form of identification for eligible voters who want to get onto the electoral roll.

The C.I has been referred to the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament. By convention, the committee is chaired by a member of the Minority group.

PEN/SARA