NDC Points Out Three Moving Parts In Election Rigging Agenda

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised red flags again over what it says is a plan by the Akufo-Addo government, acting through the Electoral Commission and the National Identification Authority (NIA) to rig the 2020 election.
 
At a press conference held Thursday, party Chairman; Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, warned the conspiracy may plunge the country into chaos saying it will be resisted by the NDC.
 
“The rigging of the procurement processes that led to the selection of Thales, a company of questionable background as the suppliers of BVRs for the EC; the decision to exclude the existing Voters’ ID card and rather include the Ghana card whose issuance has been fraught with serious anomalies, as a registration requirement for the illogical and needless new voters’ register the EC is seeking to foist on the nation, are all part of the grand rigging conspiracy of President Akufo-Addo, the Jean Mensah-led EC and the Ken Attafuah-led NIA,” the NDC Chairman said.
 
“But the NDC shall employ every legitimate means to stop this evil conspiracy to rig the 2020 elections and subvert the democracy of this country,” Mr. Ofosu Ampofo warned.
 
Breaking down the NDC’s case to journalists today, the NDC Chairman said the latest that the party has discovered is that, a rigging agenda that has long been cooking has three moving parts. The first is that Government sponsored bills in Parliament to exclude the Voters Id Card from the list of legitimate documents that can be used to register for the Ghana Card.
 
The last moving part, according to the NDC is that  the Electoral Commission which is the lead agency being used for the rigging agenda would then collect a lopsided data compiled by the NIA to compile a new register that would disenfranchise millions in NDC stronghold leading to an election of Akufo-Addo in 2020.
 
“Upon assumption of office in the year 2017, President Akufo-Addo immediately set in motion his rigging agenda by causing this law, (Act 750) to be amended by the passage of The National Identity Register (Amendment Act), 2017 (Act 950). This new law (950) excluded the Voters’ ID card and the Driver’s License from the list of registration requirements without any legal or legitimate basis.
 
 
Mr. Ofosu Ampofo pointed out that in NDC strongholds like the Upper West Region, out of the estimated registrable population of 472,391 only 24,427 representing 5.17% have been issued with the NIA cards. This means 94.83% must go through the Sworn Oath option.
 
“Out of 708,584 estimated registrable population for the Upper East Region, 45,076 representing 6.36% have been issued with the NIA cards. Hence, 93.64% must go through the Sworn Oath option,” the NDC helmsman noted.
 
He adds that “In sharp contrast to the suppression of Ghana card registration in mostly regions which are known to NDC strongholds, the Ken Attafuah-led NIA massively mobilized an unprecedented number of registration equipment for the exercise in the stronghold of the ruling NPP in the Ashanti and Eastern Region.
 
“Prior to the Ghana card registration in the Ashanti Region, an average of 2,000 registration equipment per region were deployed. However, when it got the turn of the Ashanti Region, the NIA miraculously increased the number of equipment for the exercise to 5,692. Also, the NIA provided an additional 810 card printers to improve throughput and delivery and added 3,192 workstations to the pool during the Ashanti region registration exercise.”