The Electoral Commission of Ghana is pushing for the Ghana Card to be used as the sole identification for future elections, aiming to eliminate the conflicts seen during the recent voter transfer exercise.
The recently-held voter registration exercise experienced several incidents of confusion and violence, notably in Weija, where the son of the Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Mavis Hawa Koomson, was injured.
Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Mensa, addressed the media after a meeting with over 50 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), stressing the need for Parliament to pass a bill making the Ghana Card the only requirement for voter registration.
She expressed hope that this measure will be recognised as crucial for ensuring peaceful elections.
“We have just concluded, as I mentioned, the transfer of votes exercise, and it also went very well. We did observe some unrest and conflicts in some of the centres.
“Thankfully no lives were lost, and we do hope that the conflicts around the guarantor system, which lead to parties challenging their opponents because they come to the stations, they bus the people to the station and come using the guarantor system, will be addressed,” the EC Chair stated.
She added: “We hope that in the future, Parliament will be in agreement with the EC’s proposal to make the Ghana Card the sole document identification card, but that will be after 2024.”
Albert Kofi Arhin, National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), urged the Electoral Commission to intensify efforts to promote peace ahead of the elections, citing high tensions and desperation among the populace.
“If the EC has now opened its doors to everybody, especially with the CSOs, we are going to tell the story together with the EC, and we would have to educate the people. I have a feeling that we need to be very careful this year because of the nature of the election that we are going to have,” Mr. Arhin warned.
“Why? Because tensions are very high, the economic situation in the country sometimes is dicey, and people are desperate, so we need to educate the people about peace.”
Also, discussions on involving journalists in Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings were raised to ensure the credible dissemination of information among the parties involved.
Source: classfmonline
