Stop Playing With Fire – Okudzeto Ablakwa Warns EC

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has warned the Electoral Commission against taking decisions that will disenfranchise Ghanaians in the 2024 elections.

Last month, the EC placed before Parliament a draft C.I titled: Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021, which is expected to regulate continuous voter registration.

Per the new C.I, which would become law after 21 sitting days of Parliament, the EC is seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole form of identification for eligible voters who want to get unto the electoral roll.

The EC also claimed that the decision had been taken at an IPAC meeting with representatives of all political parties including the opposition NDC.

However, speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana after it was revealed that the NDC was not invited to that meeting, Mr Ablakwa stated that it was obvious that there was a grand agenda to rig the 2024 elections in favour of the NPP.

“There is a clear agenda to rig [the elections]…but the EC must be told in clear terms that they are playing with fire.”

A former Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan has also slammed the EC’s decision to use the Ghana Card as the only source document for continuous voter registration.

Speaking exclusively to Graphic Online, he said with many Ghanaians finding it difficult to get their Ghana Cards, making it the only form of identification for voter registration was against electoral inclusivity, fairness and justice.

“Ghanaian citizens don’t lose their citizenship if they are 18 years or older but do not have the Ghana Card. So, the moot question is: why make the Ghana Card the only means of identification for purposes of establishing eligibility to register to vote,” Dr Afari-Gyan queried.