Crunch IPAC meeting underway at EC head office

Under strict security at the Electoral Commission (EC) Headquarters in Accra, a crunch meeting is currently underway between the EC, the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) and some Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in what could be the final attempt at finding a common ground by stakeholders on the compilation of a new voters register.

The meeting which started at 10am is expected to provide updates on the Commission’s plans for the voter registration exercise scheduled to begin on June 30.  

Unlike the May 27 IPAC meeting, organized for a similar purpose but which was boycotted by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the People’s National Convention (PNC), Graphic Online can confirm that the NDC is represented at the meeting by Mr Osei Griffin and Mr Bede Ziedeng, according to the registration form for the meeting sighted by Graphic Online.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is represented by Mr Peter Mac Manu while the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) is represented by Mr James Kwabena Bomfe and Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim.

There are about 42 representatives of political parties and about 30 CSOs represented at the meeting.

Graphic Online can confirm that the EC Chairperson, Mrs Jean Mensa is not present at the meeting. She was spotted being escorted to her office under military guard while the IPAC meeting was ongoing at about 11:30 am.

Graphic Online sources at the meeting say the deputy EC Chairperson, Dr Bossman Eric Asare addressed the meeting.  

New voters register
The decision to compile a new biometric voter register and provide Ghanaian adults of voting age new voter cards has been a vex issue for some of the political parties in the past few weeks.

The EC’s attempt to whip the parties in line and begin the process has been met with fierce resistance from some of the parties and CSOs. There are about three lawsuits against the move.