NDC to sue EC on plans for new voters register – Amaliba

A member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Abraham Amaliba has said the party was considering filing a suit to stop the Electoral Commission (EC) from embarking on an exercise to compile a new voters register for 2020 general elections.

The EC in March 2019 announced it will compile a new voters’ register for the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Ghana.

Ahead of that, a limited registration of new voters prior to the District Level Elections and a Referendum will take place in all district offices of the Commission across the country in May.

The referendum will seek to amend Article 55 (3) of the Constitution to enable metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to be elected on partisan basis.

But in a radio interview on Accra- based Starr FM on Thursday, Mr. Amaliba said the NDC was against the plan of the EC in compiling a new voters register.

He alleged that move was an attempt by the EC to disenfranchise some Ghanaians.

“The circumstances under which Jean Mensa was appointed makes her feel she owes her allegiance to Akufo-Addo and not to the people of Ghana. Jean Mensa is putting in place measures to disenfranchise most Ghanaians in the name of a new register. NDC has plans to file a suit against this new register which will disenfranchise most Ghanaians,” he said.

Meanwhile, political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo has urged the Electoral Commission to shelve the idea of the new register.

According to him, grounds for the creation of a new register are not solid enough even though the commission reserves the right to create a new roll for the polls.