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The EC must be treated fairly by all stakeholders.
It can certainly be said that the Ghana Election Commission has some flaws, like any other institution.
But is it just to accuse them of ‘sleeping at work’?
I think critics should take note of the word “justice” that so well captures the proverb about the career prowess of the animal known in Twi as okwaduo.
What that well-known proverb emphasizes is that even if you have reason to hate the okwaduo, in the name of justice, you must recognize that when it comes to speed, few animals can match it. (An informed source told me that ‘duiker’ is the English name for okwaduo, which belongs to the antelope family.)
Therefore, one must give everyone their due, even if one does not like them.
Last weekend, when I heard during a Radio Ghana news bulletin the comments of minority leader Hon Haruna Iddrisu, on the Provisional Voter Registration, and asked the EC to “wake up from its slumber”, I thought that I had not heard well.
I wondered: Did Mr. Iddrisu really say “sleep”, as in “sleep at work”? Like in ‘being inactive’? The Electoral Commission of Ghana called it “asleep”!
However, other media reports confirmed that my ears had not deceived me.
The following is a summary of a report from the Ghana News Agency on September 19, on the Provisional Voter Registration Exhibition, which started on September 18 and was scheduled to end yesterday, 25: Haruna Iddrisu, leader of the minority and deputy of the Democratic National Congress of Tamale Sur, has raised problems with discrepancies in the registration of voters in her constituency.
He said that the total number of people on the register does not match what his party recorded during the registration exercise. “There are big discrepancies in the registry.”
Iddrisu also expressed disappointment at the inability of “the EC to have taken advantage of this exercise to showcase its biometric verification devices …
“You see, the gist is that you took biological data, so the minutiae for facial recognition and the minutiae for fingerprint biological data are what you should be authenticating, not just my name. So the EC must wake up from its slumber (emphasis added) ”.
Also on the news that day was a disturbing indictment from Ashaiman’s MP, Ernest Henry Norgbey, of the NDC. Mr Norgbey had reportedly said that the names of 21,000 registered in his constituency, as well as his own name, could not be found in the provisional register.
Furthermore: “It appears that it is a deliberate attempt by the EC to remove certain categories of people from the registry if you look at the number of people from the Volta Region and the North Region that have been removed, it could be a deliberate attempt,” He stated in an interview with Citi FM.
However, anyone who has followed the Commission’s handling of voter registration (June 30 to August 6, 2020), would have noticed the emphasis they put on getting all eligible Ghanaians to register; and how quickly they acted to solve emerging problems. Obviously, they all aimed to ensure a smooth exercise to achieve a credible record for the 2020 Elections, scheduled for December 7.
Mr Norgbey’s alarming accusations were quickly refuted vigorously by the EC in an official statement: “The Commission wishes to state categorically that this is false.”
In addition, “the law incorporates and provides for the Exhibition Exercise and mechanisms such as the inclusion process, which allows people who registered but cannot track their names in the Provisional Registry to submit their registration.”
Along with its statement, the EC attached the part of Ashaiman’s record that shows the MP’s photo and said the allegations were “a deliberate effort to tarnish the credibility of the Commission and the Voter Registry.”
Even the way the Commission conducted the registration gave a clear indication of an organization above its work.
There were regular updates as well as color-coded charts showing trends. The weekly information sessions, called ‘Let the citizen know’, also highlighted transparency.
All of these were impressive evidence of a focused and alert institution. It is definitely not an image of a body in “dream”, as the dictionary defines it.
In any event, if names are missing, that’s what the Exposure Exercise is all about: the opportunity for the public to point out errors, omissions, and any need for amendments. Isn’t that why a ‘Provisional Record’ is included?
How would the EC benefit from eliminating 21,000 names from the provisional recorded total of 16,963,306 that they are so proud to achieve?
And why would the Commission target Ashaiman? Also, how would the EC know that all the names removed were supporters of a particular political party?
As stated above, I think the only thing the Ghana Election Commission cannot be accused of is “sleeping at work”, especially the current Commission with Ms. Jean Mensa as Chairperson.
When criticism is clearly not supported by facts, it is cause for concern.
It means that even when critics point to issues of genuine national interest, the government will not take their views seriously; and it will also be difficult for the public to believe in his good intentions.
Therefore, the proverb about the duiker should serve as a guide for everyone: Justice!
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