Mr Gary Nimako, a private legal practitioner, has questioned why the National Identification Authority (NIA) is unable to quickly register and issue GhanaCards to citizens.
According to him, the obstacles that are preventing the NIA from doing so should be investigated and addressed as soon as possible.
He was speaking on TV3’s Key Points on Saturday, September 24, as part of a discussion about the National Democratic Congress’ rejection of the Electoral Commission’s (EC) proposal to use the GhanaCard as the only form of identification in continuous voter registration (NDC).
Prior to his submission, Buem MP Kofi Adams stated on the same show that the EC has no justification for attempting to use GhanaCard as the only form of identification for continuous voter registration.
According to Mr. Adams, no one can defend this decision because it has no basis.
He stated that the EC has not been able to demonstrate that people who registered through the guarantor system ahead of the 2020 elections did so illegally, so that provision is being repealed.
“The EC should never have pushed such a position,” he said. “This should not be defended by any Ghanaian,” he added.
Mr Nimako, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), responded, “What we see is the complaint by some people that they went to write their names and they don’t have their card.”
“The genuine question is, what is preventing NIA from carrying out its mandate in a timely manner?” Is there a peculiar challenge preventing NIA from completing its mandate on time?
“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if the NIA had registered everyone for Ghana.”
“Let us engage the NIA; what do they need to ensure that between now and the middle of next year, they can put, if not all Ghanaians, at least the majority of Ghanaians, on their rolls?”
The NDC’s National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, previously stated that the Electoral Commission (EC) is attempting to undermine Ghana’s democracy with the proposed Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Instrument.
Also read: Ghana card has become a tool to infringe on peoples rights
According to him, the NDC discovered that Regulation 1(3) states that “a person who applies for voter registration shall provide as evidence of identification the National Identity Card issued by the National Identification Authority.”
He stated that this regulation has two implications.
The first, he stated, is that this regulation clearly states that the Ghana Card is the only form of identification acceptable for voter registration purposes. In other words, the purpose of this regulation is to drastically alter the current system for proving a person’s identity for voter registration purposes.
“Under the current regulations, i.e. C.I. 126, a person who qualifies to register as a voter may prove his or her identity by presenting a valid Ghana passport, a national identity card (not the National Identification Authority’s proposed national identity card), or a voter registration identification form signed by two registered voters within the community.”
“With the new C.I., the EC proposes to eliminate the two other sources of proof of identity, namely the Ghana passport and the guarantee system, leaving the Ghana Card as the sole means of identity,” Mr Ofosu Ampofo said at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, September 20.
“The second implication is that the regulation contradicts Article 42 of the Constitution, which states that “every citizen of Ghana of eighteen years or above and of sound mind has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as a voter for the purpose of public elections and referendums.”
“This clearly makes the proposed provision unconstitutional. What it means is that if the C.I. is passed in its current form, it will not only be unconstitutional, it will radically disenfranchise all those prospective voters who for no fault of theirs are unable to obtain the national ID card issued by the National Identification Authority (NIA).
“They would have been denied the right provided for them under Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution.”
“The 1992 Constitution provides only three conditions for registration as a voter; The person has to be a citizen of Ghana; The person must be of sound mind; The person must be eighteen years old or above.
“As a result, no secondary legislation may be used to undermine this provision.” That is why, since the establishment of the Fourth Republic, all regulations governing voter registration have always included a guarantee system to account for all qualified individuals who, for whatever reason, do not meet the requirements. To remove this provision from the C.I. and replace it with the Ghana Card as the sole requirement for registration is to deny all such people the right to register and vote, which is a complete breach and violation of Article 42 of the Constitution and thus unconstitutional.”
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