The Electoral Commission is confident that the confrontations that occurred during the recent voter transfer exercise will be avoided by using the Ghana Card as the sole form of identification for elections in the future. This exercise saw a lot of confusion and violence, especially in Weija, where the son of Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, was hurt. Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the Commission, expressed hope that Parliament will recognize the necessity of passing a bill making the Ghana Card the sole requirement for registering to vote in an address to the media following a meeting with Civil Society Organizations. To ensure peaceful elections in the upcoming general elections, the Commission collaborated with more than fifty organizations representing the civil society.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Mensa expressed satisfaction with the inputs made by the CSOs but also emphasised the need for Parliament to see the necessity of using the Ghana Card as the sole requirement in future elections to avoid the conflicts recorded in the just-ended vote transfer exercise.
“As I mentioned, we just finished the exercise of transferring votes, which also went very well. In some of the centers, we did see some unrest and fights. Thankfully, no lives were lost, and we do hope that disputes over the guarantor system will result in parties challenging their rivals because they bus people to the stations and use the guarantor system to get there. “We trust that later on parliament will be in concurrence with the EC’s proposition to make the Ghana card the sole report distinguishing proof card however that will be after 2024.” Albert Kofi Arhin is the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers’ National Coordinator.(CODEO), urged the Electoral Commission to intensify the promotion of peace ahead of the elections, citing high tensions and desperation among the populace.
“If the EC has now opened its doors to everybody, especially with the CSOs, we are going to tell the story together with the EC and we would have to educate the people. I have a feeling that we need to be very careful this year because of the nature of the election that we are going to have.”
“Why because tensions are very high, the economic situation in the country sometimes is dicey, and people are desperate, so we need to educate the people about peace.”
Meanwhile, issues of the involvement of journalists in IPAC meetings were raised to ensure the credible dissemination of information held between the parties involved.
