Jean Mensa’s answers before Special Budget Committee disappointing - Haruna Iddrisu

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu says he is very concerned about the responses given by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission  (EC), Jean Mensa at the meeting with the Special Budget Committee of Parliament.

He said he found her responses, troubling for the future of the country’s democracy. “Having listened to her, I feel profoundly troubled in my heart for the future of Ghana’s democracy and I feel disappointed that in her answers to questions at the committee level, she made to significant worrying statements that the people of Ghana must know,” Haruna Iddrisu said.

According to the Tamale South legislator, Jean Mensa told the committee that the EC intends to phase the registration exercise in some 6,300 registration centres. “They intend to phase out the registration exercise in some 6,300 registration centres out of the 33,000 registration centres across the country…

That troubles my heart because Article 42 will not be observed in essence through making available to Ghanaian people are legitimate right they are entitled to.” Haruna Iddrisu also claimed Jean Mensa said the Commission did not intend to use the data gathered by the National Identification Authority (NIA) from the Ghana Card registration, a decision Haruna Iddrisu said is worrying.

“The second matter which is even more worrying is, she doesn’t seem to understand the essence of data synchronization and data harmonizing… In her answers, she said they do not intend to use the data of the NIA. So what will they do with NIA?” he quizzed.

“They will use it only for purposes of identity so she does not understand what it means to share data, to synchronize or harmonise the data,” he added. The Electoral Commission has recently come under serious scrutiny, especially from some opposition parties over its decision to compile a new voters’ register.

The EC has since been dragged to court by the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) particularly for excluding the use of the current voters’ ID from the list of proofs of identification. Meanwhile, the Commission has already commenced processes to start compiling the new register in a few weeks’ time.