The Coalition of Northern Savannah Civil Society Organizations (CNSCSOs) has called on the National Identification Authority (NIA) to extend the period of its mop up exercise by one month in the five regions in northern Ghana to enable the high number of unregistered population to register for the card for the purpose of accessing the full benefits of the card including registration to vote in the 2020 elections.
In a statement issued and signed by the Executive Secretary of CNSCSOs, Bismark Adongo Ayorogo on June 26, 2020, their call was informed by results from field monitoring of the mop up exercise which showed late start of the exercise, malfunctioning of the registration equipment and network challenges resulting in very slow registration process of the high numbers gathered at various centers.
Below is the full statement
A CALL ON NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AUTHORITY TO EXTEND MOP UP EXERCISE PERIOD IN NORTHERN GHANA
The Coalition of Northern Savannah Civil Society Organizations (CNSCSOs), a group committed to advocating for good governance and accelerated socio-economic transformation of the northern savannah ecological zone wish to call on the National Identification Authority (NIA) to extend the period of its mop up exercise by one month in the five regions in northern Ghana to enable the high number of unregistered population to register for the card for the purpose of accessing the full benefits of the card including registration to vote in the 2020 elections.
Our call is informed by results from field monitoring of the mop up exercise which showed late start of the exercise, malfunctioning of the registration equipment and network challenges resulting in very slow registration process of the high numbers gathered at various centres.
It is important to note that data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) shows that the five regions in northern Ghana have a total population of over 3 million aged 15 and above and a source from the NIA indicates that prior to the mop up exercise, only about 1.2 million people representing 42% got registered.
Given the seemingly insurmountable challenges faced by the NIA in the on-going mop up exercise, the Coalition strongly believes that without an extended period of the mop up exercise, good number of persons aged 15 and above in northern Ghana will be denied the opportunity to register for the card and those aged 18 and above further denied their right to register and vote in the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
Equally worrying to the Coalition is its expectation gap in the ruling of the apex court in the case between the EC and the NDC for delivering COVID-19 responsive ruling as no clear judicial directive was given to the EC to ensure provision of adequate facilities for hand washing and sanitizing as a way of minimizing the spread of the virus that is increasing at an alarming rate on daily basis.
In the opinion of the Coalition, the apex Court in the determination of the case, just as Parliament did in the passage of CI. 126, failed to acquaint itself with the realities on the ground in respect of COVID-19 Protocols by making critical examination and proper assessment of the issues as seen in the NPP primaries and the on-going NIA mop up exercise where a number of the protocols were and are being violated with impunity.
In conclusion, we wish to call on all Ghanaians particularly the people of northern Ghana to come out in our numbers for the NIA registration and subsequently the new Voters’ Registration since these important cards constitute strong very basis for most policy decisions on national resource allocation for social and economic development.
Signed
Bismark Adongo Ayorogo
(Executive Secretary, Coalition of Northern Savannah CSOs)
Source:A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Ghana
