The Biometric Voter Registration And The NPP Buffonery

; Much Ado About Nothing!!!

It was with disdain that I read the

letter addressed to the chairman of the electoral commission, Dr. Kwodwa Afari

Djan by the chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Jake

Obetsebi-Lamptey. The NPP in the said letter expressed their deep sense of

apprehension about the secretive and silent manner with which the Electoral

Commission is conducting affairs towards the 2012 elections, describing it as a

recipe for disaster.

In the light of this, Jake has

stated emphatically that the NPP would not be a supporter of the flawed and

opaque process the Electoral Commission is currently embarking on in handling

the impending Biometric Voter Registration exercise. Jake further added that

the NPP would rather advocate for the EC to undertake a new manual registration

system which is open, transparent, verifiable, economical and auditable (tried

and tested) done simultaneously in all polling stations rather than support the

flawed and opaque system the EC intends embarking on.

According to Jake, several calls

made by the NPP for specific information and materials on the tender process

leading to the procurement of equipment and materials has so far fallen on deaf

ears. “We realize that your institution has no experience in the field of

electoral Biometrics and you have not requested credible experts to help you in

undertaking this exercise. This can lead only to a bad outcome. Coming events

cast their shadow.” Jake Obetsebi Lamptey said.

It’s difficult to understand why the

opposition new patriotic party seems to be complaining about anything and

everything the electoral commission does these days. Was it not the same NPP

and their surrogates at Danquah Institute that advocated for the biometric

registration? What has change? Where was Obetsebi Lamptey’s conscience when the

made his bizarre remark on the biometric registration? Am I truly hearing

this comment coming from Obetsebi Lamptey, the pauper-politician, who once

thought that he possessed the magic wand to wish away the nation’s problems? Is

this not the same gentleman who once threw caution to the wind and ignored the

political party’s code of conduct by announcing the result of the 2004

elections ahead of the EC? My questions are endless and I need unscripted

answers from Jake Obetsebi Lamptey. Though the fight for a credible biometric

register must be in the interest of all political parties and the country for

that matter, the NPP’s apprehension can only be likened to a child crying wolf,

when indeed there is no wolf. The fear of remaining in opposition for far too

long is catching up with the NPP and they must be ignored.

Every political watcher in Ghana,

after the 2008 elections, are aware that Gabby Asare Okyere-Darko and the

Danquah Institute have been one of the vociferous campaigners of the biometric

voting. Now that the electoral commission is considering the system, NPP is

backtracking. It is my hope that the NPP is not trying to find an excuse to

discredit the 2012 elections. What do the NPP take Ghanaians for? When they

were at the roof tops crying for biometric voter register, didn’t they know

that the biometric voting has both pros and cons? Does it mean that they were

just making ugly noises, when they were advocating for the biometric

registration? This is the more reason why they should never come back to

power. How many times are we going to allow ourselves to be victimized by the

unbridled folly and shenanigans of our experimental NPP politicians? Why are

they so ugly in their thinking and reasoning?

The fact of the matter is that the

NPP is worried because this time round, they are not in a position to

manipulate and massage the election figures just like they did in the 2004 and

2008 elections. There is substantial evidence to support the fact that some

constituencies in the Ashanti region incredibly recorded over 100% voter

turnout. What could explain this bizarre election trend if not rigging? That is

the NPP’s fear. They will not exploit the advantages of incumbency as they did

in the past and so they will do everything to cast doubt over the elections

results in 2012. The NPP do not have anything to offer Ghanaians. They know

that they have lost the election already that is why they are always cooking up

stories. The fact that the NPP makes needless, unreasonable and pointless

complains depicts the absolute fact that they don't know what they are about as

an alternative to the ruling party. They have realize that, they have lost the

battle in advance, but instead of designing, planning and developing a credible

objective to woe people to their side, they are wasting time criticizing every

initiative.

It is very unfortunate, indeed, that

rather than expending all their efforts in articulating their development

plans, ideas, manifesto and "promises" at every opportune time, the

NPP, time and again, seem to squander that opportunity and stray into

discussing frivolities. With Nana Akufo Addo being their leader, what would you

expect, anyway? The average person on the "Street", is more interested

in bread and butter issues, including how they can feed their families, defray

their children's school and other expenses, take care of their health, take

care of their farms and businesses, get their produce to the markets in a

timely fashion, secure jobs, secure affordable housing, etc., etc. They are not

interested in NPP frivolities. That seemingly childish strategy does not win

votes. All it does is to portray them as immature and non-serious bunch

of politicians. If Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP were to do discourse on

substantive issues, maybe, just maybe, some people would take them seriously,

but given the current tone of their discourse on different political platforms,

only time will tell if indeed Nana Akufo is serious about his chances of

becoming the president of Ghana.

Personally, I don’t think we should

take the NPP seriously on their side-splitting rhetoric which range from

borderline insanity to tales from Alice Wonderland. Those childish, baseless

archaic ideas of the sixties and seventies have no place in this day and age,

and it is about time that someone drummed that in the ears and brains of these

NPP stalwarts. They seem to lack solid ideas that would help accelerate

national development. Akufo Addo should tell the electorate what he would do

differently from what transpired during Kufuor’s 8-years misrule of which he

played an integral role.

While decrying the alleged lack of

transparency on the part of the EC, the NPP has to approach their criticisms

with an open mind. Experts may vary on a lot of issues but what will carry the

day is what is generally accepted as minimally acceptable. The call on the EC

to come clean is important and timely but should not be preceded by taking of

entrenched positions.

We are building a better Ghana with

strong institutions and the EC is more than credible to do its work. The

electoral commission should prove their fairness by addressing the concerns of

all stakeholders in a transparent manner to ensure zero grievances from parties

and the credibility of the 2012 elections.

Whiles at it, the EC and Ghanaians

for that matter must not pander to the whims and caprices of the NPP. They must

stop insulting the intelligence of Ghanaians. We are tired of their unnecessary

complains.

I shall be back!!

Emmanuel Dela Coffie

www.delacoffie.wordpress.com