EC Pooh Poohs Emile Short & Co. With New Voters Register Schedule

The latest announcement by the Electoral Commission (EC) that it has set up April 18, 2020, to begin compiling the controversial new voters’ register, is a slap on the face of Justice Emile Short and his Eminent Advisory Committee, alleges some civil society groups.
 
The groups include Africa Centre for Peace Building (Peace Centre), the Inter-party Resistance Against the New Voter’s Register, some opposition political parties, among others.
 
The committee had scheduled January 30, 2020, to meet with political parties in the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to settle the serious disagreement with the EC over its controversial plans to compile a new register in less than one year before the major general elections.
 
The Committee which is composed of eminent individuals such as Archbishop Duncan Williams, Right Rev. Palmer-Buckle among others was composed to mediate the anger over ECs planned adventurous voter registration compilation.
 
“Announcing April 18, 2020, as the date to start work on the new register when the EAC had intervened and called on other political parties to suspend their public protests with respect to their demonstration of disapproval of the new register to pave way for resolving the issues is the least any public accountability and peace-loving state institution could do. EC’s continued disregard for concerns of stakeholders on this important matter is a recipe for unnecessary suspicions that could lead to tension and violence before, during and after the 2020 election,” charged, Korsi Senyo, the Executive Director of the Peace Centre in a statement issued today.
 
 
“We wish to remind the EC that Elections-related violence in most cases is said to be partly as a result of distrust and lack of confidence by the public in Election Management Bodies.”
 
 
 
The EC is increasingly being criticised by some opposition political parties such as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it is pushing a sinister agenda to favour the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP).
 
The EC has vowed to compile a new voters’ register because in its assessment, the existing one has been compromised.
 
However, critics have questioned the rationale of the EC because it was the same compromised register that it used to conduct two recent elections that had been hailed as 99 per cent credible.
 
However, the EC has countered by saying it is planning to add new features like facial recognition system to the election process and that the existing register and the biometric verification system is not compatible with the new system.
 
Already the EC has mysterious convinced the Ghanaian Parliament to release a whopping GHC 400 million for the controversial system.
 
“The Electoral Commission as independent as it must be seen, must not act in a manner that would suggest unfairness towards the sole interest of national groups of persons or political parties but must act in a way that would give it credibility in delivering a free, fair and credible election” advised the Peace Centre.