EC boss, Jean Mensa
As the reality of the compilation of a new voters’ register dawns on the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party is said to be considering fresh options from its rulebook.
A series of meetings have already been held by the highest echelon of the party towards the effective application of the Machiavelli-inclined strategies, the security of which engagements has already been compromised even before takeoff.
Last weekend saw the activation of one of the strategies—massive misinformation through social media by and large.
First Shot
The first shot has been fired about a so-called smuggling into the country of a number of faulty Biometric Registration Devices (BRDs).
One of the recruited hatchet men and author of the so-called smuggling of BRDs, Owula Mangotey, has suffered a setback as the Electoral Commission (EC) describes his story as a figment of his imagination, for which reason it should be disregarded.
He alluded to vehicles arriving with the devices from Nigeria and having parked for a while at the Osu Castle, they proceeded at an hour after midnight towards the EC headquarters.
This heralds the series of misinformation and image-smear campaign under the Plan B the NDC has adopted after its stillborn efforts to kill the compilation of a new voters’ register.
EC Rebuttal
A statement from the EC pointed out that Owula Mangotey, who claims to be writing from Odumase-Dodowa, is only throwing dust into the eyes of the public and should be disregarded. The commission denied importing any such equipment and warned the public to be ‘wary of such dangerous elements who peddle falsehood to misinform’.
The commission has, therefore, called on the security agents to investigate the matter.
Persol Lies
The EC was constrained to earlier deny an impression created by NDC elements that Persol Systems Limited, the company contracted by the commission for the construction of the new Production and Disaster Recovery Data Centre, was owned by the chairperson’s husband.
So puerile was the allegation that when it was released on social media, it triggered derision among readers rather than the intended opprobrium against the EC chairperson and the commission.
It did not take long for Ghanaians to find out
that the chairperson and her husband had no links with Persol as the NDC wanted
to impress upon the public, especially when the commission directed curious
persons to establish the ownership of Persol from the Registrar General’s
Department.
EC Statement
“In the lead up to the general election in
December, the EC is mindful of the fact that there will be attempts by sections
of the society to malign the integrity and credibility of the chairperson, her
deputies and the commission,” an EC statement which clearly shows that the commission
is aware of many of such machinations coming up.
RegistrationInfiltration
DAILY GUIDE has learnt about how the NDC elements, as part of the strategies, intend pushing their activists or foot-soldiers seeking temporary employment as biometric registration personnel for the EC as part of their strategies.
Some NDC social media platforms have started encouraging party members to throw themselves into the temporary biometric registration employment of the EC.
Subtle Admission
It is a subtle admission by the party that the series of protests have failed to cow the EC into submission to abandon the new voters’ roll project.
The temporary employment opportunity the party election strategists hope should enable them to push as many of their supporters as possible to go out and register.
Creating Rumpus
This alongside creating rumpus at registration centres known to be ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) strongholds will electrify some locations.
With no shortage of tricks from their rulebook, some of the traits of the previous registration exercises which ended up contaminating the current register would be played out to the maximum, DAILY GUIDE has learnt from an inside source.
Frontier Duties
Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) personnel on frontier duties should be ready for an unusual influx of nationals from neighbouring countries during the exercise, a trend which could set such security officials on a collision course with NDC officials in the border areas.
A 2020 election without the ‘time-tested current voters register would not inure to our interest’ an NDC member was reported to have said at a Plan B crisis meeting in the wake of the reality that a new voters’ register would be compiled.
With the announcement of a timetable for the commencement of a fresh biometric registration exercise by the EC against the backdrop of two demonstrations so far, the NDC members, now crestfallen, have palpably resigned to their fate.
Bloody Campign
Yamoah Ponkoh, a leading member of the party in the Ashanti Region, has already announced a rough campaign season.
With the planned series of demonstrations nowhere near clinching the objective for the NDC, the Director of Elections of the party, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, must be disappointed in the bastion presented by the EC against the acts of abrasion.
The elections director had earlier advised against other options in favour of demonstrations.
Last week, he said the ‘posture’ of the EC is injurious to democracy, a direct reaction to the commission’s plans to go ahead to compile a fresh voters’ roll.
IPAC Meeting
An Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) is scheduled for month-end, DAILY GUIDE has learnt.
A ‘wounded NDC’ would deny the engagement of any meaningful outcome as it turns the place into a verbal arena.
By A.R. Gomda