The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the main opposition party in Ghana, has demanded that the Electoral Commission (EC) ensure free, fair, and credible elections during the upcoming general elections. The NDC has expressed concerns about the transparency and fairness of the electoral process, citing alleged bias and incompetence by the EC in the 2020 elections.
“To the Electoral Commission of Ghana, we are serving notice that we are prepared for them into 2024, and we are demanding nothing but free, fair, and credible elections. We will not countenance what happened in 2020 anymore”, Haruna Iddrisu, former Minority Leader, stated.
The Member of Parliament for Tamale South made this call in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region when the NDC Bolga Central constituency executives organised a mammoth health walk on Saturday.
The Electoral Commission in its mandate to register individuals who attained the age of 18 during the limited voters registration exercise in September this year, demanded to make the Ghana Card a sole identification which the NDC vehemently kicked against.
The NDC, including a section of the public and former chairman of the EC, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan had urged the EC to include the guarantor system in the exercise. For Haruna Iddrisu, the move by the EC to exclude the guarantor systems would have disenfranchised a lot of Ghanaians including NDC members.
Addressing fully charged supporters and sympathisers of the party at Ramsey Park after hours of walking through the principal streets of Bolgatanga, Mr. Iddrisu accused the EC of trying to trample the rights of Ghanaians to vote in the recently ended limited voter registration exercise.
“Did you hear the Electoral Commission tell Ghanaians, only a month ago, that in the completed voter registration exercise, they registered 910,000 voters, and of them, 61 percent came from the guarantor system? The Electoral Commission and its cohort and partners were determined to do a shameful injustice to 550,000 Ghanaians who deserved to be registered to vote. So, when we kept telling the Electoral Commission that there is nothing wrong with the legal framework we are operating with, we meant it. If we say guarantors system, were they Chinese or Indians who registered? They were Ghanaians and therefore, don’t undermine the right to vote”
The Tamale South MP called on the EC to take immediate steps to restore public confidence in the electoral system. He called on members of the party to close their ranks for a resounding victory in the 2024 elections.
The health walk was attended by personalities including the MP for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, MP for Okaikoi North in the Greater Accra region, Theresa Lardi Awuni, Ruth Dela Seddoh, National Vice Chairman, Chief Sofo Azorka, former and present regional and constituency executives, past government appointees, parliamentary candidates of the party.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Bolgatanga|Ghana
