Go out and register - President Akufo-Addo urges Ghanaians
As the voters registration exercise takes off today, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has admonished eligible Ghanaians to go out and register to enable them to exercise their right to vote.
The President, who addressed the nation last night, said it would be costly eligible citizens to stay at home.
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“Using your God-given and constitutional rights cost nothing, but staying home can come at a very steep price. The pandemic, notwithstanding, we have to strengthen Ghanaian democracy,” he stated.
Fit-for-purpose register
Taking a look at the voters register, the President Akufo-Addo said it was the collective duty of Ghanaians to have a register that was fit for purpose.
“We must all make sure that persons who do not meet the requirements, as set out clearly in the Constitution, do not find their names into the register. If you aid the registration of an ineligible person, and you are caught, you will face the full rigours of the law”.
“The election on December 7, must be a Ghanaian election, not a West African election, conducted with a voters register of Ghanaians. That is the only way the true will of the Ghanaian people can manifest,” he submitted.
Peace
Stressing the need for peace in the registration exercise and the electoral process itself, the President said that presupposed that both exercises must be devoid of intimidation and violence.
Refreshingly, he said the security agencies had assured him that they had put in place adequate measures and preparations for the registration exercise to guarantee the sanctity of the process.
Deployment
President Akufo-Addo also touched on the deployment of security personnel, especially the military, along the country’s borders and explained that it was another dimension of the process of guaranteeing the peace of the nation.
“It is no secret that our neighbour to the north, Burkina Faso, has, in recent times, been at the receiving end of a number of terrorist attacks, as has another neighbour, Cote d’Ivoire. To shore up our borders against such attacks, and to defend our nation’s territorial integrity, the Armed Forces, at least since I came into office, have been very proactive in engaging in operations to secure our borders, and foil any potential terror attacks on our soil”.
“Operations such as ‘Conquered Fist’ and ‘Koudangou’ have been going along for some time, since February 21, 2019, to meet this objective. Deployments of soldiers in areas along our borders have been regular, and residents living in border towns will bear testimony to this,” the President said.
“Let me state, without any form of equivocation, that these deployments are not in any way intended to intimidate or prevent eligible Ghanaians from registering to vote in December. They are there for their express purpose, which is to guard our borders. That is the limit of their remit, and they will not be permitted to stray beyond that,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
Non-negotiable task
The President said the compilation of a voters register was one of the most important tasks in the effective functioning of any democracy, as it gave the right to eligible citizens to exercise their franchise and thus participate in the determination of the choice of the government of the day.
“It is, thus, vitally important that all eligible voters register, so on the designated day of December 7, they can vote to choose the President of the nation, and the Member of Parliament of their area,” he stated.
Why elections in pandemic?
Addressing arguments that the compilation of a new register and elections should be scheduled for a later date when the pandemic was over, the President said “that is not possible.”
He explained that the Constitution did not make provision for the extension of the mandate of the President beyond four years.
“To exercise executive power in the Ghanaian state, you must be duly elected by the Ghanaian people. You must have their freely-expressed consent,” he stated and added that “on January 7, 2021, when my mandate as the current President expires, a duly elected person must be ready to be sworn in as President of the Republic. There is no other way.”
In order to forestall any needless constitutional controversy, which could throw our nation into jeopardy, President Akufo-Addo stated that citizens must vote on December 7, the same applying to parliamentarians, stressing: “We should not fear or be alarmed.”
He cited some countries across Asia, Europe and Africa, which had conducted elections successfully and added that it was not beyond Ghana to join that league of nations.
Safety
To guarantee the safety of all eligible Ghanaians who would be visiting the registration centres, the President said the Electoral Commission (EC) had put in place the necessary and elaborate protocols and reminded all to adhere to them strictly.
“Additionally, I want to remind all Ghanaians that all the other protocols and restrictions, especially those dealing with large gatherings, must be adhered to and enforced at the polling stations at all times,” he stressed.