James Gunu, Regional Secretary, Volta NDC.
The Ballot Protection Unit of the NDC will dismantle any technology and "okada drones" that will be use to snatch ballot boxes on election day.
The NPP government has realize that the only hope left for them now is to rig election 2020 by the use of technology and other means.
Few search on drones technologies revealed that, drones can be used to snatch ballot boxes and other electoral materials and disrupt elections particularly in the strongholds of political opponents to one's advantage.
To the military, they are UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) or RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems). However, they are more commonly known as drones. Drones are used in situations where manned flight is considered too risky or difficult. They provide troops with a 24-hour "eye in the sky", seven days a week.
Remote sensing drones can carry sensing equipment to assist with number of functions:
Commercial Aerial Surveillance, Commercial and Motion Picture Film Making, Oil, gas and mineral exploration, Disaster relief, Real Estate and Construction, Recreational use, Medical services, Educational services, Electoral Functions and Military defense.
According to myjoyonline.com report posted by George Nyenor on 11-12-2018 @ 01:55pm:captured JoyNews Parliamentary correspondence Joseph Opoku Gakpo report on the controversial Zipline drones as "The system can also be employed to deliver other items such as urgent letters, examination papers and election materials such as ballot papers, according to government communication on the deal.
This makes Ghana the only country in the West African Sub-region currently using the technology to improve health service delivery"
No one can doubt the impact of technology on practically every aspect of our everyday lives. In this case, the use of various technologies on politics is worth noting particularly in Ghana and obviously in Africa. The same technologies that are supposed to make lives better can equally make it worse.
The unmanned "Okada" in the sky called drone can be used for other things not mentioned here.
The Nana Addo Bawumia led NPP government's desperation and madness in procuring the drones no matter the cost and what the suffering majority of Ghanaians say, suggest to me that, government has a hidden agenda.
Many Ghanaians including highly respected groups such as the Ghana Medical Association GMA and the Minority Caucus in Parliament have expressed graved concerns about the government's resolve to procure drones but all have fallen on death ears of government.
I'm also concern about political parties potentially using Drones to photograph people casting their vote and thus violating the secrecy of voting.
Transparency and Secrecy are both key in the 2020 elections and use of Drones on election day could have negative affects on voting integrity.
The justification for the presence of drones above crowds of voters on election day might be that of panoramic photographs for media purposes. But the technological capacity of drone cameras has dangerous potential: the potential to photograph Voters' choices from above, thus jeopardizing the secrecy of the voting process.
Potential Effects on Voter Behavior
The effects of Drone surveillance at elections would be characterized as “Intimidating.” In developed countries, the idea of having Drones that could potentially record who votes for who and storing that data could influence the decision-making process of voters especially in countries with high levels of political violence, this Effect would be even more pronounced, causing both low voter turnout and coerced Voters for the Intimidating Candidate.
This government may also like to use the Drones in order that they can Collate the Election Results and know the outcome few seconds after voting.
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights Article 25 (B): Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 21 (3): The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
In addition, Article 49 (1) of the 1992 of the Republic of Ghana states "At any public election or referendum, voting shall be by Secret ballot".
Free, Fair, Transparent and Credible Elections under secret ballots are very important but vigilance is the rule of the game.
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