A Political Science Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Richard Amoako Baah has questioned the kind of modus operandi outlined by the Electoral Commission (EC) to clean the country’s voters’ register.
He wondered if the EC will be using detergents and cleaning products such as Key soap and Omo to clean the voters’ register to make it credible.
‘Am not against the idea that we clean the voters’ register up but have you heard how the EC will clean it up, has the EC told you if it will clean it with key soap or omo,’ he asked.
The Outspoken Political Scientist pointed out that the EC officials have refused to tell the Ghanaian populace measures they have put in place to ensure that the register is cleaned as agitated by various political parties.
‘The EC should explain things to the populace, and then after everybody will understand the issues that if it’s cleaned this and that will happen so we cannot clean. What is preventing the EC from telling Ghanaians measures put in place to clean the register?. Political parties have agitated for this for so long, why don’t you come up and tell us how you are going to do it to stop all of this, what are they waiting for, is it not their job?,’ he quizzed.
Dr. Baah suggested that when issues crop up, peaceful measures are put in place to prevent chaos.
‘When an issue come up, we act in a way that will bring peace and not chaos,’ he urged.
He claimed that the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Akua Donkor’s Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) are the only parties which do not support the idea of compilation of a credible and new register.
‘The EC is an independent body for Ghanaians, they are not there for themselves, they make things work for us, they facilitate the process of elections that is it. So if we Ghanaians, New Patriotic Party (NPP), Progressive Peoples’ Party (PPP), People’s National Convention (PNC) and all the political parties say the voters’ register is not credible, all the political parties expect NDC pretty much and Akua Donkor’s party are against the cleanup of the register, why are we doing it,’ he fumed.
Speaking on Nhyira FM, he alleged that the NDC party does not understand the law.
‘The voters’ register issue is about law, they don’t understand the law, it’s very simple, when the supreme court makes a decision, it doesn’t mean don’t commit that offence again, what you have done is null and void, the supreme court by itself cannot turn back and explain things, unless another person sends the issue to court, there is no country in the world that states that don’t commit that offence again, supreme court does not give advice for future occurrences, they make decisions for what has happened now,’ he stated.
In a rebuttal, the Communications Director of NDC, Solomon Nkansah explained that the EC has started implementing reforms where it has been meeting with political parties.
‘I feel sorry for him, he is no more a Political Science Lecturer. PPP and PNC have not stated in any where that the voters’ register is not credible; the PPP only said they have a problem with it. It’s only NPP which is challenging the credibility of the voters’ register,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the leader of Akwasi Addae alias United Progressive Party (UPP) alleged that it is laziness on the part of EC to embark on a cleaning exercise to compile a new register.
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