DANQUAH INSTITUTE DOUBTS EC’S NOV. 7 POLLS

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, June 3, 2016

Danquah Institute (DI), a public policy analysis and research centre, doubts the Electoral Commission’s (EC’s) ability to prepare adequately to supervise the general election in November.

It said the EC, by its actions and inactions, is leading Ghana into a possible constitutional crisis; and called on all stakeholders to speak out without any further delay.

Apparent Ill Motive

“The EC has, with apparent ill motive, wasted a whole month that could have been employed to start the process of cleaning the register. Yet, it is asking the people of Ghana, through their parliamentary representatives, to vote to amend the Constitution to hold the elections a month earlier,” Nana Atobrah Quaicoe, Executive Director of DI, said at a news conference in Accra yesterday.

He said that with only 158 days left, it is not possible for the EC to comply fully with the order of the Supreme Court to delete NHIS card holders from the biometric voter register, re-register them, and go ahead to push for an early election in November as being proposed by the commission.

Curious Posture

“Our concerns are mainly due to the blatant and curious posture of the Electoral Commission against obeying a clear and express order of the Supreme Court to take immediate and necessary steps to clean the register,” he underscored.

He said that the only main stakeholder in the electoral process that is vehemently opposed to removing the names of NHIS registrants from the electoral roll and allowing them to re-register is the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) saying, “This, unfortunately, creates the unhelpful impression that the EC is working with the ruling NDC to rig the 2016 general election.”

Nana Attobrah posited, “It is important to recognize that, going by the proposed November 7 date, we have just five months to vote and the law imposes a mandatory freeze on any modification of the active register for this year’s elections, 60 days (or two months) before voting. This means, the entire process of deletion and re-registration of millions of names must be completed before September 7 - if the November 7 date should hold.”

Supreme Court Order

He said that “Nearly one month since the Supreme Court gave its ruling on Thursday, May 5, rather than taking immediate steps, as ordered, to delete the names of those who registered using NHIS card, it took the EC two whole weeks to study the judgment and come out publicly to announce on Thursday, May 19, that the Court did not order it to delete the names of NHIS registrants.

“Maybe, they are doing something the public do not know but from what we have all seen publicly, it is not possible for the EC to be adequately prepared for the November date. The truth is that, as much as it is showing such great reluctance to obey, the EC cannot escape from the Supreme Court’d decision. It has no choice but to comply.”

Parliamentary Debate

Nana Attobrah said that parliament is expected to debate and vote on the constitutional amendment intended to change the date for holding general election in Ghana from December 7 to November 7; and the bill needs both parliamentary majority and minority to agree in order for it to become law.

“This is where we will urge the minority to stand firm on the side of credible, free and fair elections when this matter comes up. In as much as the country appears to be desirous of and impatient for change, the minority should not allow the EC to impose a November 7, 2016 date on us if it cannot convince the country that it has taken the necessary, legitimate, logical, efficient and impartial steps to give Ghanaians a clean register as ordered by the apex court of the land.”

He continued, “So far, the Charlotte-Osei-led electoral management body of Ghana has shown nothing but odd contempt at all efforts to address the issue of Ghana’s bloated register. What this could effectively mean is that once the constitutional amendment is passed and the EC gets its way, the Commission is likely to hide behind it to frustrate an efficient process of deletion and re-registration as ordered by the Court. This should not be allowed to happen.”

DI Recommendation

The DI boss said the EC must within the shortest possible time, tell Ghanaians both the process and timetable it intends to follow in order to comply fully with the orders of the Supreme Court. “This must be done and the process towards it started way before the constitutional amendment bill is laid before parliament for first reading on June 20 or June 21,” DI charged.