Ghanaians abroad may be allowed to vote as Nana Addo calls for fresh talks with EC

Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo has indicated that his government will be in talks with the Electoral Commission to ensure that the law allowing Ghanaians abroad to vote in the country’s elections becomes fully operational.

Addressing the Ghanaian community in Togo, President Akufo-Addo was worried that ten years after the Representation of People Amendment Law was passed, it is yet to be implemented.

“We passed the law and I can’t understand why 10 years later it is dormant on the statute books,” he said.

The law was passed in 2007 and Ghana has held three general elections since then. But the Electoral Commission has insisted that it is not ready to implement the law.

The Electoral Commission’s 2016-2020 strategic plan states “there is currently no plan” to implement the law.

Critics of the law also say that extending the voting process to cover citizens outside Ghana will be an unnecessary burden.

Founder of the NDC and former President Jerry Rawlings had accused the government then, of planning to use the law to rig the 2008 elections.

Meanwhile, the EC has set a 2018 deadline to clearly define a roadmap for the implementation of ROPAL.

Funding and staffing have been mentioned as some of the setbacks to the implementation of the law.