Spio Garbrah of the NDC now loves ROPAA

Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah who is seriously contesting the Presidential Candidacy on the NDC ticket cuts an imposing figure with his height and girth. Likewise it is impressive when he resorts to the benefits of ROPAA to get himself out of a tight spot contrary to the widely stated positions of his Party.

We all recollect the hysteria and histrionics that were mounted by the NDC leadership to stop the passage of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act barely eight months ago by any means necessary. This was the simple exercise of correcting an anomaly in Ghana's electoral system where the Constitution of the land grants the right to register to vote to all Ghanaians 18 years and older and of sound mind; but which supreme law was thwarted by a curious law decreed in the dying days of the PNDC that limited this right to vote from abroad to only a very small select group of Ghanaians outside Ghana. Thus the constitutional right of the right to register to vote irrespective of residence was in one swoop denied to countless millions. Thankfully, on February 23rd 2006, the Parliament of Ghana, sans the NDC members who were no-shows, passed Act # 699 to correct this odious hindrance to the full execution of Ghana's democracy. President J.A. Kufuor called their bluff and promptly signed ROPAA into law the following day. Despite the doomsday predictions of Spio Garbrah's beloved Party, the sky did not fall and Ghana went on to perform admirably at the world cup featuring its Diaspora in a beautiful spirit of inclusion, with the entire planet cheering. The Diaspora Vote Committee (DVC), a group of brave Ghanaians who withstood the slings and arrows of the opposition, predicted such an outcome in their briefs on our collective behalf; to them, an eternal gratitude from Ghana's Diaspora.

Fast forward to last week when a most senior person of the NDC is questioned in Ghana by his own Party about why he did not vote in the 2004 elections in person and in Ghana as he was required to do per PNDC Law 284. His answer:

"I could not vote from the United Kingdom because ROPAA just came into existence."

This writer, who led the non-partisan DVC delegations to Ghana, could stop here with the proverbial- I rest my case. Spio added that he voted by proxy. Remember what I said earlier about the PNDC Law giving the right to vote from outside Ghana to a very limited group? Well, in 2004 was Dr. Garbrah working for one of Ghana Missions? Or was he working for a UN organization on the Government's assignment? Or may be he was on a Peacekeeping Force; or he had arranged a Ghana government scholarship. Only people from these categories could vote by proxy. Is Spio Garbrah hinting at something more with his seemingly unqualified proxy assertion? Thank God ROPAA is now law and with the declared perceived benefit by our new-found supporters; like one of the giants of NDC, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, we can see to its implementation for the 2008 elections so no one will be questioned about why they did not travel from London, New York, Toronto, Tokyo, Lagos or Paris to vote in Ghana. Thanks for your endorsement of ROPAA and good luck in your own quest, our friend Spio.

Kofi A. Boateng
Chairman, NPP USA/CANADA.

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