December 7 Election Not Going To Be Business As Usual- NDC Tells EC, NPP

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said it will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections are free fair and transparent.

The party which has been suspecting the Electoral Commission (EC) of conspiracy with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to rig the election says it will match the election management body boot for boot all through the process.

At a press conference, national chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia said for the interest of peace, the NPP and the EC must necessarily choose peace instead of the Commission allowing itself to be used. He warned the December 7 election will not be like the previous elections,

“We do not expect the Electoral Commission of Ghana to act as the conduit through which Akufo-Addo will implement his avowed determination not to hand-over power to the visionary, experienced and trustworthy John Dramani Mahama.

NPP must choose peaceful transfer of power from NPP to NDC in their own interest. The 2024 elections will not be business as usual. The EC must sit up”, the chairman said,

Mr Asiedu Nketia alias General Mosquito said to stay the course, the party has asked it polling agents at the ongoing limited registration exercise to record serial numbers of all Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits at every registration centre across the country for transparency purpose.

The move comes on the back of the NDC revealing the missing of some Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits under the supervision of the EC saying it latest move is to ensure these missing kits are not used to register people on the bind side of Ghanaians to compromise the election.

“The NDC has always been suspicious that the stolen kits could be used to illegally register some people in order to add them to the voters register to enable them to vote on December 7, 2024. That remains our suspicion.”

But, the EC, in a statement issued yesterday, remained adamant not to disclose the serial numbers of the BVR kits to external entities, citing possible security risks that could be posed to the electoral system and the credibility of its operations.

“Releasing these serial numbers to any external parties, including political entities, poses a substantial risk to the security and integrity of our registration processes. That is why this has never been done since the biometric voting system was introduced in Ghana”, the EC said.

The NDC however appear unperturbed as it has insisted that it agents will continue record the serial numbers with or without the permission of the EC saying if the Commission has nothing to hide, it should not be worried about such exercise.

“The NDC tasked its registration agents across the country to record the serial numbers of all BVR kits that will be deployed by the EC.

Among others, the essence of recording the serial numbers of the BVR kits will help us trace, identify and match every registration data emanating from a specific district or electoral Area. The serial numbers will also help us track all authorized personnel (EC’s officials) who operate the BVR kits in an electoral area. This will forestall any clandestine registration aimed at contaminating the voters register.

We are determined to ringfence the threat and risk to the 2024 elections by documenting the serial numbers of each BVR kit that will be used in this registration exercise.

Our agents also have our firm instructions that if BVR kits malfunction and are replaced during registration, they should duly record the serial numbers of the new BVR kits and the date and time of use”.

He said the NDC is surprised that the EC is refusing the party’s measure to protect the integrity of the process if it has nothing to hide.

“We are utterly surprised that this precautionary measure taken by the NDC is being resisted by the Electoral Commission.

Why is the EC resisting and stopping NDC registration agents from recording the serial numbers of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits?

The big question is, what does the EC have to hide? What is their fear over the mere recording of the serial numbers of these BVR kits knowing very well some have been stolen under their watch?

Is there something they are hiding from the public? Will our precautionary measure not prevent the criminals who stole the BVR kits from using them to illegally register people?

If the EC has nothing to hide, they should just allow willing political parties to record the serial numbers of BVR kits during this limited voter registration exercise”, General Mosquito said.

He said warned and notice that the NDC registration agents across the country will resist the EC’s clandestine attempts aimed at diminishing transparency in the voter registration exercise.

He asked the NDC agents to activate the party’s super hi-tech application systems to transmit all serial numbers of BVR kits in their districts and electoral areas to the National Elections and IT Directorate of the party, with or without the approval of the EC.

While calling on all Civil Society Organizations, (CSOs,) Chiefs, Opinion Leaders, Faith based Organisation to join the NDC to demand more transparency and fairness, the party repeated it call on the EC to answer the 35 questions posed by the party on the stolen biometric equipment.