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Political parties in Ghana and their affiliates have been urged to remain calm in the wake of the EC’s decision to compile a new voter’s register.
This follows a meeting between a 21-member Eminent Advisory Committee of the Electoral Commission (EC), over the commission’s justification for a new voter’s register for the upcoming 2020 general elections.
The recommendation comes after agitations from the largest opposition party, the NDC, other political parties, think tanks and CSOs for the EC to rescind its intention of compiling a new register.
The Committee advised that the EC further engages relevant stakeholders on the matter.
A statement released by Chairman of the Committee, Justice Emile Short reads, “the Electoral Commission on Wednesday 15th January 2020 held a meeting with members of the Eminent Advisory Committee to outline the justification for the procurement of a new Biometric Voter Management System and the compilation of the new voters register for the 2020 general elections.”
“At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that the electoral commission and the eminent advisory committee will meet members of the Inter Party Advisory Committee to have further deliberations on the matter.”
The statement added the “eminent advisory committee calls for calm from all political parties and other stakeholders as they work in the national interest”.
Protests
Ghana opposition parties have formed the Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voter Register (IPRAN) and have called for a series of demonstrations across Ghana from 11-28 January over a new biometric electoral roll for the December 2020 general elections.
Their grievances are not just the $147M cost of the project, but the lack of transparency and concerns over the addition of facial recognition, citing reports of the poor accuracy of the proposed systems when analysing black faces.
The group recently held a massive demonstration over the weekend and similar events would be replicated across the country in the coming days.
By Jonathan Ofori, Daily Mail GH
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