New voters' register dates coincides with Ramadan period – Muslim Council

The Federation for Muslim Council Ghana, has called on the Electoral Commission (EC), to review its date set for the compilation of the new voters register because it falls within the year’s Ramadan period.

In a press statement copied to the Ghana News Agency and signed by Al-Hajj Muhammed Amir Kpakpo Addo, Secretary-General of the Federation said hopefully the Muslim month of fasting which is the ninth month of the year on the Islamic calendar would commence on Thursday, April, 23, 2020 and end on Saturday, May 23, 2020.

It said the ECs announced date for the exercise from April 18, 2020 to May 23 2020, would coincide with the fasting period and would discomfiture Muslims nationwide.

The statement said looking at the hassles, queuing for long hours in the sun and in some cases waiting for days before going through the exercise worshippers in fasting would have to endure; “This is not the kind of torment one would want to see a fasting person go through”.

It said, the incidence of people who collapsed over exhaustion after waiting long in queues in certain parts of the country just to acquire the National Identification Card as was reported by the media was still fresh on their minds.

“This was not in Ramadan, neither were the victims even fasting,” it said.

It said while it concedes the importance of the national exercise it firmly believed the timing for the registration was not favourable and was its prayer that the on-going negotiations amongst the Eminent Advisory Committee of the EC, IPAC and EC would lead to an amicably fruitful result to move the nation forward.

It said preferably the EC should review the registration exercise to a day after the Idul Fitr holiday to avoid many Muslims being disenfranchised come December 7, 2020.