Reject Okudzeto’s 'irresponsible call' for commencement of voter registration - EC told

A group calling itself, the Dynamic Youth Movement of Ghana has admonished the Electoral Commission(EC) to vehemently reject a proposal put forward by legal luminary, Sam Okudzeto in relation to the voters’ registration exercise.

Mr Okudzeto had suggested the commencement of the voters’ registration exercise in regions that have so far not been affected by the lockdown.

“Just thinking out loud to say that perhaps, the coronavirus ours is not as dramatic as is happening in many of the Western countries…which means that we only have few pockets of the two big municipalities and few regions…So it’s a question of the Ministry of Health, the Electoral Commission, attorney general all them trying to put their heads together. In my view, since the lockdown is not the whole country, they should start the registration in the areas where there is no lockdown and that would have covered large chunk of the country.” Sam Okudzeto said in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM.

But a Press statement by the group condemned the proposal from the Counsel of State Member in the wake of the covid-19 spike.

“The disappointing suggestion in addition, is sharply at variance with the directives of the President banning all public gatherings aimed at containing the pandemic. This irresponsible call, if adhered to by the EC amid this lethal pandemic will create an auspicious ambience for the astronomical spread of the deadly virus.

“The need for a New Voters Register or otherwise should not be achieved at the expense of the health and wellbeing of the general citizenry. The right to good health is equally an inalienable right just as the right to vote,” the group argued.