Danquah Institute questions preparedness of EC

The Danquah Institute (DI), a policy think thank, has questioned the preparedness and ability of the Electoral Commission (EC) to hold this year’s general election on November 7.

According to the group, the EC had not given clear timelines to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision to delete names of persons who registered as voters with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards from its voters register.

That, it said, had the tendency to mar the organisation of the entire election this year.

In its ruling last month, the apex court of the land ordered the EC to take steps to delete names of persons who registered with NHIS cards from the register and give chance to those who would be disenfranchised to re-register.

The institute said it strongly believed the EC had demonstrated clearly that it was not going to comply with the order, a situation which might affect the credibility of the election.

It has, therefore, called on the commission to give Ghanaians both the process and timetable it intends to follow in order to comply fully with the orders of the Supreme Court.   

Feasibility of date 

Stating their position at a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Executive Director of the institute, Nana Atobrah Quaicoe, said the non-compliance of the court’s order by the EC called to question the feasibility of the proposed date for the general election.

“With about 158 days to the election, and 26 days already wasted by the EC, we think the November 7 proposed date is not feasible,” he said.

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He, however, could not suggest a clear date apart from the November 7 or December 7 dates, arguing that even if those who might be affected by the ruling of the Supreme Court were given the opportunity to re-register, they would not have the chance to vote.

“Per the laws, the EC does not have the right to temper with the voters register 60 days before the election. So the more it wastes time, the more people may be disenfranchised. 

“The EC has, with apparent ill motive, wasted a whole month that could have been employed to start the process of cleaning the register. Yet, it is asking the people of Ghana, through their parliamentary representatives, to vote to amend the Constitution to hold the elections a month earlier,” he stressed.