CADA cites minority political parties for indifference in biometric registration exercise

The Centre for African Democratic Affairs (CADA) has observed with concern that the vast majority of political parties in the country failed to observe the just-ended biometric voter registration exercise, contrary to expectation.

It said political parties as the primary stakeholders in the electoral process, were given the opportunity to partner the Electoral Commission (EC) to produce a credible voters’ register as part of ensuring transparency.

“In almost all the registration centres visited, we observed that it was mainly the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party agents, out of 20 registered political parties, who had deployed agents to observe the exercise,” CADA said.

These were contained in a paper entitled “Observation Report on the 2012 Voter Registration in Ghana”, issued by the Centre and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Thursday.

The report noted that this attitude of the other political parties had virtually reduced the electoral contest to the nation’s two dominant political parties.

It praised the high sense of co-operation and responsibility displayed by the party agents at the various registration centres which accounted largely for the conducive atmosphere within which the registration process was conducted.

The report, however, criticized the manner in which some political party officials went round some registration centres forcefully without regard to laid down rules and regulations, even though they did not have accreditation to enter those centres.

“As a result, some of these political party activists had confrontations with registration officials who attempted to refuse them entry,” the report said, adding that “This unruly behavior of political activists has the potential to disturb the electoral process and parties should desist from it.”

On security, CADA expressed dissatisfaction about what it described as the poor security environment at some registration centres, and called on all stakeholders to help redress the lapse to promote a genuine and credible electoral process.

It indicated that, although the exercise was largely transparent and peaceful, there were nonetheless some worrying developments in a number of centres across the country. It noted in particular, tensions between rival parties/candidates in certain areas which could negatively affect the participation of eligible voters and, therefore, reduce the credibility of the process.

The report cited a case at one registration centre in Nsuta in the Okere constituency in the Eastern Region, where an NDC party agent allegedly attacked a registration officer and retrieved about 33 voter identity cards belonging to persons whose applications had been legally challenged.

“This situation and the use of ‘macho’ men by the NPP to observe the registration exercise in the Dome-Kwabenya constituency created unnecessary political tension”, it said.

The report commended the EC on a successful voter registration exercise and urged political parties to continue to raise their concerns regarding the electoral process - “be it intimidation, prevention, discrimination or threat to security agencies and Electoral officials” so that they could be dealt with in accordance with the law.

CADA is a civil society organization that is committed to promoting good governance and deepening democratization in Africa. The Centre, among other activities, is involved in voter education, training election observer groups, organizing workshops on good governance and assessing electoral processes in Africa based on Africa’s International Treaty Obligations.**