EC to ensure that no qualified voter is disenfranchised

Kumasi, Aug 14, GNA- President John Agyekum Kufuor has urged the Electoral Commission (EC), to put the necessary measures in place to ensure that no Ghanaian who qualified to vote in the 2008 Election is disenfranchised. The call comes in the wake of the public outcry and concerns about the way the just ended voters' registration exercise was carried out

President Kufuor stated that "it had taken the nation painstaking effort to come this far and could, therefore, not afford to set the clock back, certainly not when so much was at stake", adding that the just ended registration of voters has caused great concern to all. He said it was for this reason that the management of the forthcoming elections should surpass the previous ones, more so as Ghana has become the benchmark for credible election on the continent.

The President was addressing the 8th Quadrennial Delegates Congress of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) at the great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi on Wednesday. The four-day event being attended by over 800 delegates from all over the country is under the theme "Social Protection for All, A Pre-requisite For Consolidating Democratic Governance : The Role of the Trades Union".

President Kufuor said government had delivered on its promise of ensuring the conduct of this year's election was credible by providing the budgetary requirements of the commission. Additionally, it stood ready to assist in other ways as requested to enable the Commission to work well to everyone's satisfaction, he said. President Kufuor noted that the EC alone could not be held accountable for the outcome of the poll. He said the entire society, political parties and civil society must all share in the burden of making sure the exercise was successful.

Concerning efforts at ensuring a living wage for workers, President Kufuor said it was important for all to admit that the appreciable process had been made. He said although the nation has not yet got there, "we should remind ourselves always that at the end of 2000, the national minimum wage was 30 Ghana pesewas which meant a monthly wage of 11.34 Ghana cedis". President Kufuor said today, the minimum daily wage stands at 2.25 Ghana cedis or monthly wage of 60.75 Ghana cedis representing an increase. He said besides the minimum wage, there were on-going programmes to remove distortions and disparities in earnings in the public sector.

The government has accepted the Single Spine Pay policy to be implemented on the basis of equal pay for work of equal value. Mr Kofi Asamoah, the Acting Secretary General of the TUC, called on political parties, government and the EC to exhibit political soberness, maturity, fairness and transparency in the electoral process. He also warned political parties and their followers against the politics of insults and personality attacks and least of all any incitement to violence as the country was preparing for election