New voters’ register: Your ‘ugly’ noise cannot change the decision – Obiri Boahen to critics

“You can stage the demonstrations and make all the noise but that cannot change the decision of the EC in securing a voters’ register,” Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has told demonstrators pushing against the new voters’ register

According to Nana Obiri Boahen, in an interview on Radio 1 monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Article 45 Clause (1a) clothes the Commission with the mandate to change the Voters Register whenever it felt so.

“Legally, all the noise about the new Register is ‘Much ado about nothing’”, he said.

Nana Obiri Boahen, who cited various reasons for a new Voters’ Register, said the creation of the new regions was one of the factors.

He said, for example, there is no region known as Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions stressing that all those regions have now been divided.

He said it was therefore automatic that serial numbers of those in the two regions should get new Voter Identification numbers in order for them to vote in the 2020 general elections.

Nana Obiri Boahen said the issues surrounding the change of the Voters’ Register were not about any political party adding that the Supreme Court after hearing the election petition in 2012 saw that there “something wrong” with the Voters Register.

More so, he said, Parliament has approved the budget for the New Voters’ Register.

The announcement by the EC to procure a new Register has attracted a lot of views from various groups including political parties and civil service organizations.

The EC has, however, set the middle of May to compile a new Voters’ register for the presidential and parliamentary elections for 2020.

According to the Commission, it wanted to change the register to pave way for a smooth election devoid of issues.

Meanwhile, 13 political parties including the NPP, Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) have thrown their weight behind the EC to compile a new Register.

However, the biggest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress( (NDC) has objected to the compilation of the new Voters Register.