New voter roll: Jean Mensa-led EC being 'remote-controlled' – Nyaho-Tamakloe

A founder-member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has said the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission (EC) is being remote-controlled with regard to the election management body’s decision to compile a new register of voters.

The EC believes the integrity of the 2020 polls could be undermined if a new roll and a new Biometric Voter Management System are not put in place.

The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), as well as some smaller political parties and some 18 civil society organisations have kicked against the EC’s decision.

These groups believe the move is a waste of resource and should not be done 10 months to the December 2020 elections.

Calling themselves the Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voter Register, the NDC and other parties have staged two demonstrations in Tamale and Kumasi to pile pressure on the Commission to rescind its decision.

However, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and some political parties have also thrown their weight behind the EC to compile a new register.

Sharing his thoughts on the ongoing debate, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe, in an exclusive interview with Class News’ Ekow Annan, said the EC must tread cautiously since the move can plunge the country into chaos.

He said: “To me, the whole thing appears to be something that is being directed from far… If you have a remote-control of an issue – we know, we’ve been in these things for years – now, if the EC will not be bold and tell that remote control that this thing can spark problems because it’s been tried before and the previous Electoral Commissioners did not do it and they have a reason they didn’t do it. Now, if the present EC wants to force its way, all I’ll say is that it has to be very careful or it’ll seriously damage, sort of, the peaceful political dispensation that we have at the moment”.