NDC makes u-turn on Ghana card registration; urges members to participate in exercise

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has urged its members to “fully participate” in the ongoing Ghana card registration following the arrest of some officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) for allegedly registering people for the card at night.

The party, which earlier had issues with the registration process, called on its members to boycott the exercise.

However, at a press conference in Accra, the Deputy General Secretary of the party, Mr Peter Otokunor called on its members to fully participate and monitor the ongoing exercise keenly.

According to him, the arrest of the NIA officials was evidence of a process “hit with massive fraud, irregularities and wanton abuse of the process.”

The party also mentioned Akweteyman, Abbosey Okay, Mataheko as places “where the NPP is collaborating with registration officials to frustrate the process” for NDC members.

“In some cases, applicants are made to fill the form and are asked to come three days later for their biometrics to be taken. Who does this?”

In light of these issues, Mr. Otokunor said the NDC has “enough reason to believe that the NPP intends to use the acquisition of the Ghana Card as one of its methods towards manipulating and rigging the 2020 elections.”

He posited that there was a two-pronged approach by the government which started with the elimination of the voter ID card as a document used in the registration exercise “thereby disenfranchising a lot of grassroots voters who constitute the bulk of the support base of the NDC.”

In addition, Mr. Otokunor said the NPP is engaged in the secret registration of NPP members “in order to increase the numerical strength of the NPP members who hold the Ghana Card for the purposes of registering them as voters for the 2020 election.”

The NIA started the mass registration and Ghana Card issuance exercise in the Greater Accra Region from Monday, April 29, 2019, and is expected to end on Saturday, July 6, 2019.

The region has been divided into two zones: Accra West and Accra East, where registration centres have been opened at specific locations.

Credit: Citinewsroom.com