Probe foreigners on voters register
The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called for investigations into allegations that more than 76,000 names of people from neighbouring countries are on Ghana’s voters register.
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It said if the allegations were found to be true, “it will be necessary to have a new voters register to enable people to have confidence in the electoral process.”
A statement signed by the President of the conference, Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu and issued in Accra yesterday, expressed the hope that all stakeholders, but most especially, political parties that had been contacted to present inputs into the exercise would “be honest and truthful in their contributions in order to enable the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct a fair, transparent and honest exercise to win the confidence of the Ghanaian public in the register and the electoral process as a whole.”
It urged the EC to endeavour to register all Ghanaians who had attained 18 years and above and were of sound mind, resident or ordinarily resident in an electoral area and not prohibited from registering as a voter.
It appealed that the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) should also be resourced to educate the citizenry on the qualification of voters, adding that “this education must be sustained throughout the year so that the message sinks into everybody.”
Credible voters register
The statement said the voters register constituted the official list of eligible electors and was a prima facie evidence of the elector’s right to vote.
“We believe that the voters register is not just one additional element to the electoral process: it is in fact a crucial factor in the establishment and consolidation of a democratic system of governance. To inspire confidence and credibility in the voters register, as we prepare for the 2016 general election, it is crucial that the voters register should be comprehensive, accurate and continuously updated,” it said.
In the process of updating the voters register, the bishops called on the EC not to disregard the calls to avoid the registration of minors and non-Ghanaian citizens, to use qualified and adequately trained personnel for the registration process and to ensure transparent identification and verification of eligible and registered voters.
EC commended
It commended the EC which, in keeping with its mandate of compiling the register of voters and revising same at such periods as determined by law, had requested all political parties and civil society organisations to make presentations at a stakeholders’ workshop to be organised by the Commission on the state of the voters register.
It urged Ghanaians to work conscientiously to satisfy the need to strike the right balance to ensure integrity of the voters register and the need for flexibility to ensure that the peoples’ right to register and vote was safeguarded.
“It is our prayer that every Ghanaian will mean well and contribute to make the mandate of the Electoral Commission in compiling the register of voters and revising same for a more trustworthy electoral roll, especially for the 2016 general election,” it said.
