The Flagbearer of the main opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been called upon to render an apology to Ghanaians and the Electoral Comission (EC) for continuous attacks against the compilation of a new voters’ register after conceding that the exercise was successful.
This call comes in the wake of John Dramani Mahama, the NDC flagbearer admitting that, the just ended New Voters’ Registration exercise was successful in an interview he granted TV XYZ, a television station based in Accra, Ghana.
Briefing the media on the NPP’s position on the just ended registration exercise, the party’s General Secretary, John Boadu lamented that, John Mahama and the NDC have been disingenuous in their attacks against the process to compile a new electoral roll.
Believing that, the former President of the Republic owes the people of Ghana an apology after conceading that, the exercise was successful in the interview he granted.
“We in the NPP expect him to go further to apologise to this nation for the dangerous ethnic sentiments he raised, jeopardising the security of the state with unwarranted attacks,” he emphasized at the media briefing on Monday, 10th August, 2020 in Accra at the Swiss Spirit Hotel.
Despite initially mounting a strong resistance to the process to compile new voters register for the upcoming December polls, the flagbearer of the opposition NDC, John Dramani Mahama, admitted that the exercise was successful.
“I think the exercise met our expectations… [Over 16 million registrants] is within the range that one would have expected,” the National Democratic Congress presidential candidate made these comments on Sunday, August 9, 2020, in an interview with TV XYZ.
The TV XYZ interview which was also streamlived on Facebook in Kete Krachi in the Krachi West District of the Oti Region was part of activities of the NDC flagbearer tour of the region on Sunday.
Explaining why he, the former President of the Republic and now flagbearer joined the NDC to resist the Electoral Commission’s decision to compile a new electoral roll for the December elections, he pointed out, before a new register is compiled, it is preceded by a national population census which gives an accurate data of the target population.
However to him, the just ended new voters’ registration has largely succeeded in taking out the names of dead people that existed in the old register hence turn out was high.
Meanwhile at the press briefing, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary, John Boadu indicated that, the exercise has cut down the presence of ineligible voters by at least three million as compared to the old voters’ register hence achieved more than what the NDC flagbearer John Dramani said.
Stressing that, ‘eligible’ voters on Ghana’s voter register would have been over 20 million had the EC not compiled a new register for the upcoming December general elections.
Source: www.thenewindependentonline.com/ Ishmael Barfi
