The Electoral Commission (EC) is under scrutiny for allegedly failing to provide a copy of the voter register to all political parties before the public exhibition period. This breach of protocol has raised suspicions, particularly after claims surfaced that the Deputy Director of Elections of National Democratic Congress (NDC) condemned the EC for secretly distributing what he believes to be a fraudulent voter register to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mahdi Jibril, the Deputy Director of Elections for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), made these allegations on the Adekyee Mu Nsem morning show on Ahotor 92.3 FM, hosted by Kofi Owusu in Accra. Jibril accused the EC of favoring the NPP in the lead-up to the December 2024 elections, calling into question the commission’s honesty and credibility. The EC had promised to provide the provisional register to all political parties by July 24, but the document has not been released as the public exhibition period approaches.
In response to this delay, the advocacy group Election Watch Ghana gathered at the EC headquarters on August 19, demanding the immediate release of the Provisional Voter Register (PVR). The delay, they argue, undermines the transparency and integrity of the electoral process, particularly as the exhibition date nears.
Mark Ewusi, the Convenor of Election Watch Ghana, expressed frustration with the situation. “According to the EC’s calendar, tomorrow is the day for the exhibition. It is crucial for political parties to review the provisional register beforehand to ensure everything is in order. Unfortunately, we arrived to find that the commissioners and staff had not yet resumed work,” Ewusi stated.
In a related development, Richard Nyamah, the Deputy Communications Officer of the NPP, supported the NDC’s concerns about the register’s exhibition process. Nyamah criticized the EC for not informing political parties of any anomalies in the register before the exhibition began. He suggested that an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting should have been held to address these issues.
Nyamah called for the EC to reconsider its methods or revert to previous practices to resolve the current issues. However, he also noted that while he sympathizes with the NDC’s concerns, he believes they have misrepresented some facts. “The timing of IPAC meetings is not solely determined by political parties; it depends on the issues at hand,” he said. Nyamah suggested that the heightened tensions among political parties are partly an attempt to generate excitement ahead of the election.
Story by: Alexander Kukah
