Introduction
I am intrigued by the NDC’s recollection of a Communique issued at the end of a “National Debate On Ghana’s Voters’ Register, Organised By The IEA On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 In Accra.”
I was fascinated seeing, watching and hearing the respected Dr. Omane Boamah, the NDC’s Director of Elections for Election 2024, quoting copiously from the Communique on various television and social media networks in the course of his party’s nationwide demonstrations for an INDEPENDENT FORENSIC AUDIT of the current Biometric Voters’ Register.
Fascinated and intrigued; because it was/is a NOTORIOUS FACT that the NDC, then the ruling party, publicly boycotted that particular event on the basis that it amounted to a waste of time, and also that the IEA was seeking to usurp the constitutional mandate of the Electoral Commission (EC).
In terms of exactitude, it must be emphasised that the Communique in circulation was neither the exclusive position of the IEA or Jean Mensa, then the Executive Director of the IEA, who signed the said Communique.
The Communique was the outcome of the deliberations, debates and consensus reached at the October 20, 2015 IEA-sponsored event, attended by over 100 participants from Parliament, Civil Society, political parties, development partners, traditional authorities, statesmen and media.
While it is safe to credit the IEA for initiating the event (debate), it would be an exaggeration to make them (IEA) the “sole owners” of the Communique, simply because their Executive Director performed an administrative function by signing a Communique meant for the public and the media.
The preceding point is not to purge the IEA of any responsibility for the Event as well as the outcome (Communique). I want to believe the IEA was/still is proud to have been partners in collaboration with the stakeholders; relative to the organisation of that event. And for that matter, they (including Jean Mensa) would not disassociate themselves from that event and its output.
Having made these preliminary observations, I return to the focus or thrust of my presentation on the NDC’s recollection of the October 20, 2015 Communique. And their (NDC’s) open utilisation of it (Communique) as part of their narrative relative to their “Enough Is Enough” Demonstration for an INDEPENDENT FORENSIC AUDIT of the current Biometric Voters’ Register.
As already indicated, the NDC officially stayed away from the IEA Event for some stated reasons. They rationalised that it was “unnecessary,” a “waste of time,” a “duplication” and an attempt to “usurp the mandate of the EC”!
Even more importantly, the NDC after boycotting the IEA sponsored Debate on a “Credible Voters’ Register”, put in a solid representation at the EC- sponsored PUBLIC FORUM held under the auspices of the Justice Crabbe-led five-member Panel from October 29-30, 2015.
Paradoxically, the NDC through their then General Secretary, now National Chairman, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, rebutted the calls for an INDEPENDENT AUDIT and a NEW VOTERS’ REGISTER!
Mr. Asiedu Nketia submitted that there were/are established TRADITIONS AND CONVENTIONS to cure the mischief of a bloated Voters’ Register. He pointed to the very procedures and protocols that he and his party are vigorously opposing as curative measures for the same/similar electoral ailments today!
Indeed, at the end of the two-day PUBLIC FORUM and further private meetings between the Crabbe Panel and stakeholders including the political parties, the panel submitted a REPORT to the Electoral Commission (EC) for its attention and action.
Significantly, nowhere in the 16-point RECOMMENDATIONS by the panel was/were the necessity and/or desirability of an INDEPENDENT FORENSIC AUDIT or an entirely NEW VOTERS’ REGISTER advocated or recommended!
The Report, while advocating the need for greater transparency, collaboration and respect between the EC and all the stakeholders, especially the political parties, virtually upheld the established procedures and protocols (Asiedu Nketia’s “TRADITIONS AND CONVENTIONS”) as the cure for the mischief of a bloated or defective voters register ( perceived or real).
It was against that backdrop that the entity charged with the constitutional mandate to compile the Electoral Roll and conduct National Elections, the EC, diligently worked towards Election 2016; inspired by the observations and recommendations of the Supreme Court after the 2013 Presidential Election Petition; those of the Electoral Reforms Committee (ERC) set up by EC in 2014, and a review of the register of voters done by an independent consultant at the request of the EC in October 2015 for the EC’s own ‘internal consumption’.
In accordance with a specific recommendation and advice by the Crabbe Panel, the EC also formally responded to the specific allegations formally communicated to them (EC) by the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) between July and September, 2015.
In summary, I find it intriguing and perplexing that the NDC today seeks to capitalise on portions of a Communique born out of an event (debate) they officially boycotted; same portions of the Communique, they rejected during the sittings and meetings at the Crabbe Panel on October 29 and 30, 2015!
Please take note that the NDC’s boycott of the IEA event (debate) was on October 20, 2015. Nine/Ten days later, they were articulating and communicating their preference for the application of the established “TRADITIONS AND CONVENTIONS” as the requisite cure(s) for the ailments of the register of voters!
Nine years down the line, they (NDC) are enthusiastically floating that Communique on the streets as justification for an INDEPENDENT FORENSIC AUDIT of the register of voters; nearly three (3) months to the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections!
PS: Need I say more?
By Abdul Malik Kweku Baako (Editor-In-Chief @ Large, The New Crusading GUIDE).