Use of Ghana Card as sole document for elections raises suspicions of a sinister move - Group

A group calling itself the Coalition of Ghanaians Without Ghana Cards (GWiGC) has said that the insistence of the Electoral Commission to use only the Ghana Card for voter registration raises suspicions of a sinister move to suppress the votes of some Ghanaians.

According to a statement signed by Convening Team, the group said that it is concerned about all the processes involved in this arrangement, calling for a ceasefire from the EC.

The statement, for instance, called for an immediate stop to the ongoing ‘premium express’ registration of National Identification Authority (NIA) cards at a fee across the country.

“The Coalition has also become aware of a rather surprising ongoing silent registration of Ghana Card at various regional offices of the National Identification Authority (NIA) under the operational name ‘premium express" where ordinary Ghanaians are required to pay an amount of two hundred and eighty Ghana cedis (Ghc280) apart from having to travel from various parts of a particular region to its regional capital.

“In fact, what is more worrying is that Ghanaians who even make efforts to move to district offices of NIA seeking to register are unable to register with several excuses from officials including network challenges and lack of printing cards among other flimsy excuses. Clearly, the commercialisation of the Ghana card acquisition is given a premium than its national use as we are made to believe,” the statement said.

It also said that should the NIA and the EC go ahead with its insistence that the Ghana Card becomes the sole document for elections, it would disenfranchise a lot of citizens and as such, that move should be re-looked at.

“It's important to note that the Electoral Commission's unpopular position to make Ghana Card a sole document for registration or acquisition of a voter register means a huge number of Ghanaians will not be able to register and vote in total contravention of the provisions as contained in Ghana's 1992 Republican Constitution.

“… That the premium registration exercise ongoing by the NIA at a commercial value of Ghs280 should be stopped immediately due to the already burdened harsh economic challenges faced by Ghanaians,” it added.

Read the full statement, dated Thursday, July 20, 2023, below:

20/07/2023

PRESS STATEMENT:

For Immediate Release.

EC's insistence on the use of ECOWAS Travel Certificate (Ghana Card) as the sole source document for voter registration is politically dangerous and must be stopped.

The Coalition of Ghanaians Without Ghana Card (GWiGC) has taken note of the ongoing efforts by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana to review the existing Constitutional Instrument (CI) particularly portions pertaining to registration of voters.

The Coalition has also become aware of a rather surprising ongoing silent registration of Ghana Card at various regional offices of the National Identification Authority (NIA) under the operational name "premium express" where ordinary Ghanaians are required to pay an amount of two hundred and eighty Ghana cedis (Ghc280) apart from having to travel from various parts of a particular region to its regional capital.

In fact, what is more worrying is that Ghanaians who even make efforts to move to district offices of NIA seeking to register are unable to register with several excuses from officials including network challenges and lack of printing cards among other flimsy excuses.

Clearly, the commercialisation of the Ghana card acquisition is given a premium than its national use as we are made to believe.

It is worth noting that the entrenched position taken by the Electoral Commission and the National Identification Authority further reinforces our suspicion of a sinister move to suppress votes of some Ghanaians for whatever reason.

For the purposes of clarity, we therefore pose the following questions to the NIA and EC to answer;

1. Is it correct that the so-called Ghana card is an ECOWAS travelling certificate intended for use within the ECOWAS Sub-region? If yes, why is it being pushed down the throats of Ghanaians as a form of identification for elections in Ghana?

2. What becomes of the poor Ghanaian who do not have money to register for the card?

3. What becomes of the people leaving in the hither lands and do not have access to regional capitals for the registration exercise?

It's important to note that the Electoral Commission's unpopular position to make Ghana Card a sole document for registration or acquisition of a voter register means a huge number of Ghanaians will not be able to register and vote in total contravention of the provisions as contained in Ghana's 1992 Republican Constitution.

We wish to strongly state that though the NIA law requires mass registration, you will recall that the period within which such mass registration was organised, we were in a COVID-19 pandemic and due to government's restrictions, it was practically impossible for all Ghanaians to participate in the registration exercise.

In line with the above, the Coalition of Ghanaians Without Ghana Card is calling for the following reviews on behalf of the Ghanaian people;

1. That having taken cognisance of the numerous challenges regarding the acquisition of the Ghana Card, it must not be made as the sole source document for the voter registration card;

2.That the premium registration exercise ongoing by the NIA at a commercial value of Ghs280 should be stopped immediately due to the already burdened harsh economic challenges faced by Ghanaians;

3. That Government, NIA should make provisions to enable Ghanaians access Ghana card registration through a nationwide mass registration at various district levels minimum and further decentralized to electoral area registrations if possible.

4. We are calling for an all-inclusive stakeholder discussions by NIA to make its services more progressive, accessible and affordable to all Ghanaians at all times.

End.

Issued by the Convening Team of GWiGC.

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