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The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana is the supreme law of the land under which other subsidiary legislations derive their powers. So, any subsidiary legislation or law which contravenes any standing provision or article of the 1992 is ultra vires and must be thrown away.
-Chapter 3 of the 1992 constitution unambiguously spells out who is qualified to be a citizen of Ghana. So, any subsidiary law or legislation like the C.I 126 as laid before the Parliament of Ghana by the Jean Mensa’s Electoral Commission which seeks to redefine citizenship and the right of Ghanaian taxpayers to vote, is in contravention of the 1992.
-The CI 126 as laid before Parliament is proposing amendments of regulation 1 of C.I 91. This is the proposal:
- The public elections (registration of voters) regulations, 2016 (C.I 91) is amended in regulation 1.
a) by the substitution for sub-regulation (3) of;
(3) a person who applies for registration as a voter SHALL provide as evidence of identification one of the following:
a) a passport
b) a national identification card issued by the NIA.
-As per this proposed amendment to the C.I 91, a traveling passport or the NIA card are the only identification materials that can serve as evidence or show of citizenship. And only the two can qualify anybody to register as a voter.
-Per this, the three regions (Northern, Savannah and North East) will have as much as 645,553 eligible voters deliberately disenfranchised by the NIA and the EC.
-The Electoral Commission of Ghana did a limited voter register in 2019 for the District Assembly Elections. A total of One million, four hundred and fifty eight thousand, four hundred and fifty seven (1,458,457) voters were captured in the final electoral register for the three regions (NR, SR and NER). The breakdowns are: NR-919,935, SR-270,123 and NER-268,399.
-The NIA enrolled only Eight Hundred and Twelve Thousand, Nine Hundred and Three (812,903) in these three regions. The breakdowns are:
NR-468,576, SR-163,470 and NER-180,857.
-From the above, the difference between the number of voters in the Jean Mensa’s EC’s register and that of the NIA’s suppressed register is 645,553. This number by default cannot register and by extension are not Ghanaians as per the EC’s redefinition.
-It is worthy to note that the NIA registration in these three regions was done simultaneously with limited registration materials, faulty registration machines and within a very limited time. Even the promise made to the people that a mob up exercise will be done to enroll those who were not able to register, remains a scam. Even the promise made by the NIA that permanent registration offices will be designated in all Districts in these regions by March of 2020 has not been fulfilled.
Interestingly, not all the 812,903 were even issued their cards. The card issuance in these regions was as poor as the registration exercise itself. Out of the 812,903, those who have not being issued their cards are 242,935.
I ask this question: Who am I now? I, Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese, is a Ghanaian; I have voted since 2004; I don’t have a traveling passport; I don’t have a Ghana card from the NIA, so, does this mean my citizenship has been nullified by the NIA and the EC?
By Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese , a loud citizen from SR | The views expressed by the writer are solely his and do not represent the position of Daily Mail GH
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