By William
Yaw Owusu & Melvin
Tarlue
Thursday
June 28, 2018
Former President Jerry John Rawlings and the
National Democratic Congress (NDC) are split over the Ghana Card.
While the former President has picked his card, a
move presupposing his acquiescence with the citizenship identification
exercise, his party, the NDC and former President John Mahama, who have
boycotted it, are on a different wavelength.
Owing to his decision to pick the Ghana Card, former
President John Rawlings has attracted criticism from members of his party who
claimed he went contrary to the party’s position to boycott the whole
registration exercise being conducted by the National Identification Authority
(NIA).
Yesterday, the Minority downplayed Rawlings’
decision, saying that he does not represent them, a statement which certainly
widens the schism between the NDC’s founder and key elements in the party.
Initial Boycott
The NDC Minority in Parliament, which called for a
boycott of the registration exercise, insisted that they would not take part in
the exercise if NIA does not allow Ghanaians to use their Voters ID cards to
register for the new Ghana Card.
The NIA has stated on numerous occasions that
applicants would have to produce birth certificates, passports or produce two
referees to vouch for them in order to obtain the Ghana Card.
In spite of the supposed NDC boycott, NIA has
continued its registration exercise which commenced two weeks ago.
So far, state institutions, including the Presidency
and Parliament where only members of the majority participated, had been
covered.
NDC Fire
In the ensuing heat, the office of the former
President John Rawlings released a statement urging stakeholders to re-examine
concerns about the National ID.
“The
attention of the
office of His
Excellency, Jerry John
Rawlings, has been
drawn to publications in
sections of the
media and on
social media platforms
insinuating that his decision
to register for
the National Identity
Card was a
call to members
of the National Democratic Congress
(NDC) to disregard
the position taken
by the party
and the Minority in Parliament,” Kobina Andoh Amoakwa of the Communications Directorate of the Office of the former
president said.
The statement said “the office
wishes to state
that it’s spurious
to suggest that
former President Rawlings made
a call against
the Minority.”
“The principle of
Ghana having a
valid Identity Card
System is what
the former President is
committed to and
he respects positions
taken to ensure
that the process
is transparent and easily
accessible to all.”
“The former
president urges all
stakeholders, especially, the
National Identification
Authority and both
the Minority and
Majority caucauses in
Parliament to deliberate dispassionately on the concerns,
many of which
are legitimate, in
a bid to bring sanity into
our democratic process
and ensure that
all eligible Ghanaians
benefit from the process.”
Cynical View
NDC MP for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nettey George, was
cynical on Citi FM on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 when news broke that former
President Rawlings had registered for the Ghana Card.
He claimed Mr. Rawlings was misled into registering
for the card and said the ex-President would not have registered if he had
consulted the Minority.
“I believe if President Rawlings had asked us as a
Minority to explain and expatiate what our challenges are, he would have
appreciated our position better and possibly aligned more with us, but
unfortunately he did not grant us audience to explain.”
Kufuor Request
Apart from Mr. Rawlings, the office of former
President John Agyekum Kufuor has also been covered, but DAILY GUIDE learnt
that former President John Mahama, who is backing the NDC MPs, did not take
part in the exercise.
After receiving his Ghana Card, former President
Kufuor reportedly urged the NIA to consider the Voters ID Card issue to ensure
that all Ghanaians register for the new Ghana Card.
He explained that if Ghanaians can use the Voters ID
cards to select leaders to govern them, then they should also be able to use it
to register for the Ghana Card.
“How would you say you also have the ‘Kokromoti
power (right to vote) which will make and unmake a government? So the voters’
ID has to be part of it.”
Mahama Jab
Prior to the NDC’s statement to boycott the Ghana
Card registration, former President John Dramani Mahama lambasted the
government for trying to skew the process in favour of a few people.
During the Unity Walk in Aflao in the Volta Region
on June 9, 2018, he described the NIA registration requirement, which excluded
the Voters ID Cards as ‘illogical’ and said “this is a deliberate attempt to
de-nationalise some of our people and we shall not accept it."
“We will use every legitimate instrument that is possible
under a democracy to ensure that every Ghanaian is able to register.”
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