People are using fake birth certificate to register – Asiedu Nketia alleges

Some people are using birth certificates to register in the ongoing Limited Voter Registration Exercise in the Ashanti Region.

General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah who made this startling revelation on Accra-based Okay FM, Tuesday, said the situation is worrying, especially, when the Constitutional Instrument 91 (C.I.91) governing the conduct of the exercise frowns on it.

What is so alarming about the situation, he argued, are instances where his men have intercepted fake birth certificates with which people were using as proof of being Ghanaian nationals at some registration centers.

“We have intercepted some birth certificates we suspect are fake in so many places. They are using it in some registration centers where somebody will come and attest that the holder of the document is his or her son or daughter and must be allowed to register”.

“Ordinarily, if somebody goes to a registration center with a birth certificate as a proof of being a Ghanaian national, you challenge it but public opinion will even kick against it. This is worrying and must be immediately addressed by the political parties and the Electoral Commission”, he noted.

According to him, one of the main reasons why the use of a birth certificate was rejected as a basic requirement for registration by the political parties together with the Electoral Commission was that it could easily be reproduced outside the domain of the mandated institution.

That aside, the Electoral Commission has no device to ascertain the authenticity of the document.

“It is easier to get a birth certificate because they are not using a biometric system. They also don’t have a modernize means to crosscheck the nationality of the holder of such document. So, it is possible that people have been printing fake birth certificates in the system. That is why it not one of the basic requirements for registering”.

The C.I. 91 provides for the grounds for qualifications for registration of every citizen of Ghana of eighteen years and above and of sound mind the right to vote and be registered as a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda.

Under the new C.I. 91, a person who applies for registration as a voter shall provide as evidence of identification either;

(a) A passport

(b) A driver’s license

(c) A national identification card or

(d) An existing voter identification card

The National Health Insurance card as a form of identification has been omitted from the C.I.91 following the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Abu Ramadan & Another v. the Electoral Commission.

The Regulation which indicates that a person needs to have one Voter’s Registration Identification Guarantee Form, as evidence of identification, if that person is unable to produce any of the required forms of identification for registration as captured in C.I. 72 was maintained in the new C.I.91.

A registered voter shall, however, not guarantee the identity of more than five persons and is required to indicate the relationship the guarantor has with the applicant as well as solemnly swear or affirm that the applicant is qualified to register as a voter.