The press ‘banter’ by the two main political parties in the country seems to have no end in sight as the National Democratic Congress has once again at a press briefing, accused the Electoral Commission of gross incompetence in the conduct of the ongoing Voter Exhibition exercise.
The Voter Exhibition which began on 10th September 2019 is to give Ghanaian electorates the opportunity to authenticate their details in the EC’s voters’ register.
But the NDC says the process has been bridled with irregularities which have rendered scores of Ghanaian electorates unable to complete the process successfully.
Briefing the media, Thursday, September 12, 2019, on the extent of irregularities, the director of the party’s Elections Directorate, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah fingered the unacceptable level of incompetence on the part of the Electoral Commission headed by Jean Mensa as the remote cause of the thriving challenges.
“The progress of the exhibition can so far be described as a gross violation of the Public Elections Regulations… as a result of the EC’s own planning, development and operations of the exhibition exercise…Majority of those who have visited their centres cannot find their names on the Voter Registers…,” Mr Afriyie Ankrah lamented.
He explained that per the provisions of the law, the EC was supposed to provide a “provisional register of voters alongside the old registers compiled since 2012” for electorates to verify their details but this important step was overlooked.
He cited some areas in the country which have been bereft of a smooth process with challenges like mismatch of constituency codes, delay of logistics and technical issues.
“Reports coming from Kpone Katamanso indicate that most of the old and newly registered voters cannot find their names…where they have constantly voted in the past…The exercise could not happen at Nkwanta North, Nkwanta South, Krachi Nchumburu and Krachi East…areas such as Tiawia, Subriso, Kadewaso, Awurensua and Akutuase received their materials after 10 am on the first day…”
With the seemingly poor outlook of the process, the NDC says the Electoral Commission is headed for doom and will definitely give “Ghanaians nothing but a shoddy exhibition exercise under the watch of Mrs Jean Mensah.”
In the same vein, the party also alleged that due to the technical hitches, more than 25,000 people who registered have had their names omitted from the register, a situation which they described as a viable cause of confusion on an election day if not addressed.
“...over 25,000 of the people that were registered their names are not reflecting on the register, and it has to do with the software. Whiles they have refused to give the NDC a softcopy of the register, which we demanded and which is our right constitutionally, we have information that the National Security was given a softcopy of the register. What has National Security got to do with register? He asked.
The Voter Exhibition exercise is expected to end by 17th September 2019.
