Representatives of the Political Parties who participated in the Interparty Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting have given strong backing to the decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new voters roll.
The issues that came up for discussion at the meeting included; its preparations, precautionary measures, the cluster system of registration, mopping up exercise, time frame, the special arrangement for the vulnerable groups and the identification to be used for the registration.
The first group that attended the meeting were; the representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP), the Institute for Democratic Governance, United Progressive Party and Ghana Freedom Party.
Speaking to the media at the end of the meeting, Mr John Boadu, General Secretary of the NPP said the Commission’s planning, which included; the observance of safety precautions at the registration centre was commendable.
He said the meeting reached a consensus that the exercise should start in last week of June and end in July that EC would fix a date and communicate appropriately to the stakeholders.
Mr Boadu said the EC’s proposed clustering of 33,367 polling stations nationwide was an appropriate approach, which would give the opportunity to people to register.
Mr James Kwabena Bomfeh Jr., the Acting General Secretary of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) said the framework the EC presented towards the registration exercise was good.
He urged the public to prepare and support the Commission to undertake the registration to pave way for the 2020 parliamentary and presidential elections.
Mr Joseph Osei Yeboah, an aspiring Independent Presidential candidate for the 2020 election, said the EC informed them that the equipment that would be used for the registration had arrived in the country.
He stated that the Parties raised issues about the EC’s plan to constantly clean the registration kits after every registration, and suggested that the use of alcohol based sanitizer would reduce the efficiency of the kits.
Dr Eric Bossman Asare, a Deputy Commissioner in charge of Corporate Services of the EC speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the outcome of the meeting said he was satisfied and it was an exercise that would deepen the democracy of the country.
He explained that the cluster system implied adding five registration centres to constitute a cluster.
Asked about allegation of disenfranchising people through the use of only Ghana card and passport, he explained that people who did not have the two national identifications could present two registered people to guarantee for them.
Dr Asare assured the Commission would take adequate measures to ensure the safety of all stakeholders and appealed to the public to support the Commission to compile a credible register to be used to conduct the elections.
Source: GNA
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John Baoadu, is a proactive party leader is making sure that the NPP is battle ready for the new voters registration exercise. He has gone done media encounter in the past few weeks making sure our grassroots are embracing the idea. Learning a lot from you boss!
Compilation of the new voter register is Non-Negotiable. We need a credible voter register. The ndc party should stop creating unnecessary antagonism by inciting EC against the public. This intransigent behaviour must STOP. Ghanaians are experiencing good governance under Npp government led by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo. Electoral commission, Ghanaians are with you to carry out your legitimate work.
It’s obvious considering the minutes of IPAC meetings held. No quantum of destructive actions will deter the EC from performing its constitutional mandate.
Why is the opposition NDC bent on causing chaos. Nothing will stop the EC from compiling a credible register. Mr. John Boadu is on point and glad he has shown great leadership unlike the NDC who have disappointed their members.
The new voters register is non negotiable, the General Secretary has said it all. We are tired and sick of this clueless opposition party. They should spare us, no more foreigners in our EC database . We are ready to defend our database. New Register now. God bless Uncle JB
A New and more credible Voter’s Register is coming...kudos to the political parties supporting the EC take this move for the betterment of our country’s democracy...Ghanaians are in support of this great move by the EC...Kudos
The compilation of the new voter register is a must and kudos to all political party who are in favor. As for NDC we know they are fighting a lost battle. They can even choose not to go and register
The new credible voters register is welcomed by all Ghanaians. God bless the NPP and uncle JB
I salute all the parties who supported the cause especially Uncle JB and the NPP. As stipulated by law,you can have your say but it can't bind the EC because they are independent and beyond critics. Thank God our boarders are locked to prevent most foreigners from taking part. We are registering Ghanaians only. God bless you Mr President and NPP.
Indeed Ghana is working again, NDC should be sober to EC so that the work of the EC will be easy for them. We have hope in EC that they will do a great Job. We all know that the voter's register is blotted, let's come together to support the EC. God bless Hon. John Boadu for the great work, A great Leader and vibrant.