Bernard Mornah's comments very ‘useless & treasonable’ - Atik Mohammed

PNC General Secretary, Atik Mohammed, has labelled recent comments by the party's Chairman, Bernard Mornah, as "useless and treasonable".

Bernard Mornah, who is also the leader of the Inter-Party Resistance Against New Voter Register [IPRAN], has reportedly threatened to wreak havoc during the Electoral Commission's (EC) registration exercise to compile a new voters' register.

The EC has announced the registration exercise will begin in June this year.

According to the Commission, they have increased the registration centres to 33,367 to accommodate the teeming numbers that will attend the exercise and also ensure the electorates observe the social distancing protocols.

The Commission also says adequate measures will be put in place to enforce strict adherence to the COVID-19 preventive protocols at the various centres and further adds that the legal requirements for registering are the Ghana card and passport but in the case of the electorates not having the two documents, they can be eligible to register their names using guarantors.

But according to the IPRAN, the Commission plans to disenfranchise 10 million Ghanaians, hence the decision to make the Ghana card and passport the only legal documents for the registration exercise.

“It is disappointing and disheartening to note that that was the first time political parties in the Resistance had heard about this blatant attempt at political bigotry by the EC to exclude close to about 10 million eligible voters from registering to vote in this year’s general elections.

“It is also important to emphasise that the EC surreptitiously employed a crude Machiavellian tactic in this mischievous agenda by circumventing long-standing laid-down procedures of allowing IPAC to discuss such an important matter such as amending an electoral law," the group stated.

On top of the group's opposition to the EC's decision, Mr. Mornah is reported to have said they will disrupt the exercise and also 'kill' any person that stands in their way.

Making his submissions on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, Atik Mohammed resented the party's Chairman's comments stressing it doesn't represent the position of the PNC on the new voters' registration exercise.

Atik Mohammed regretted that the party's Chairman could make such incitive comments but wants the general public to note that he (Bernard Mornah) is responsible for his utterances.

"The mere fact that he is the Chairman of PNC doesn't mean that what he said is representative of PNC's position or our thinking or our mindset. It's his own thought . . . the PNC position is clear that we support this register," he said.

He also bemoaned Mr. Mornah for being led astray, saying, "if you belong to an organization such as a political party, sometimes party discipline if there is a position of the party; you shelve your own position because you don't work for yourself. You work for that entity, but the PNC is in such a state where and I'm being frank on this occasion, things are alright, so you find people acting treasonably to the common good and to the common interest."

Listen to Atik Mohammed's submission in video below