NPP Slams NDC For Kicking Against EC’s Proposed New CI

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has slammed the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for opposing the new Constitutional Instrument (CI) proposed by the Electoral Commission (EC). The NDC is kicking against the EC’s proposed CI through which it intends to make the Ghana card the sole identification document for voter registration.

They have argued that the new CI if passed will disenfranchise majority of Ghanaians from registering for voter cards. In an interview, the Director of Research and Elections of the NPP, Evans Nimako expressed concerns over the NDC’s penchant for challenging measures aimed at sanitising the country’s electoral system.

Mr. Nimako said he cannot fathom the fears of the NDC if the CI is passed by Parliament. “My little worry about the NDC is that anytime there are any arrangements that seek to sanitise the registration exercise of the EC, they tend to disagree. We saw this when the new EC decided to put in place the new voter registration management system.

They disagreed to the extent that they went to court and they failed. “I’m not saying they shouldn’t challenge or bring alternatives. We have on a number of occasions disagreed with the EC. I don’t see their fears, but the question is, what does the NDC stands to lose if the EC at this point decides that we want to have a CI that will take away this whole issue about the guarantor system that gives us so much trouble,” he said.

The NPP’s Director of Research and Elections advised the NDC to return to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) in order to have extensive discussions with the other political parties on the way forward. “The NDC should eat their humble pie and come to IPAC so that we can have a discussion there so that we will not take this whole long time to discuss this issue,” he encouraged.

Mr. Nimako called on Ghanaians especially politicians to support the EC to deliver on its mandate. “I think that the EC’s arrangements to have a CI that will allow only those who will want to have their names onto the register to use the Ghana cards must be supported by all,” he urged.