NDC UK/Ireland Chapter Demands EC Come Clean On Sneaky Attempt At ROPAL

The UK-Ireland Chapter of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said that it has credible information that the Electoral Commission is seeking to secretly implement the Representation of People’s Amendment Law (ROPAL) in this year’s elections.

In a statement, the Chapter said it is reliably informed that there is a mobilization of New Patriotic Party (NPP) faithful in the diaspora for the purpose of voter registration to the neglect of all other Ghanaians abroad.

“The NDC-UK & Ireland Chapter has gathered credible intelligence to the effect that some NPP supporters in the diaspora(UK included) are being mobilised to travel to Ghana on or before 29th September with the aim of registering as voters for this year’s elections,” the group said in a statement.

“There is on-going Voters Register Exhibition Exercise which started on the 18th and will end on the 25th September 2020.  Therefore, it would be illegal and a departure from registering new voters prior, during and after the exhibition exercise as prescribed by law.”

It was signed by Chairman of the Chapter, Alhaji Alhassan Mbalba.

The statement noted that the EC’s suspicious moves to sneakily register NPP adherents in the diaspora, has been punctuated by contradictions between its two Deputy Chairpersons on the issue of the feasibility of ROPAL for the 2020 elections.

Deputy Chair, Dr. Bossman Asare is noted to have put on record that Parliament had not enacted the necessary Constitutional Instrument for ROPAL to happen, while a second Deputy EC Chair, Dr. Srebour Quaicoe is noted to have said that the EC was ready to implement ROPAL.

The NDC group in Ireland noted the recent controversy over attempts by the EC to undertake ROPAA in the Czech Republic. “In August 2020, The NDC-UK & Ireland Chapter sighted a Directive with the caption: ARRANGEMENTS FOR ONLINE REGISTRATION OF GHANAIANS, DIPLOMATS, INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVANTS AND STUDENTS ON GOVERNMENT OF GHANA SCHOLARSHIP ABROAD purported to have been issued by the Embassy of Ghana in the Czech Republic. 

The statement pointed out that the contradiction is not helpful demanding that the EC comes clear on its position on ROPAL as far as the 2020 elections are concerned.