The Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper has downplayed calls by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for an independent audit of the newly compiled voter register.
Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako said the call for an independent audit of the register by the opposition party lacks basis as the concerns of the party can be addressed through the existing auditing process of the Electoral Commission (EC).
The veteran Journalist who believes the call is fueled by baseless suspicion, accused the NDC of being inconsistent with their position on the new electoral roll.
Speaking on Joy FM’s news analysis show, News File, Mr. Baako suggested to the NDC to seek legal redress of their concerns if they are convinced that the existing process would be unable to address their concerns.
“There is no basis for it (the call for an independent audit). We have the de-duplication, adjudication and exhibition processes and indeed the parties are given the provisional register. There are many processes that when they are combined, and properly managed and activated could help address their concerns but to ask for an independent audit by an independent body is just recycling this element of suspicion that they have been doing from day one,” he said.
He also dismissed the concerns of the NDC over transfers of IT personnel from the Commission’s Headquarters to the regional and district offices of the Commission stating that reassignment is an administrative routine exercise at the commission.
He added that the party’s suspicion of a conspiracy to delete names of people of certain ethnic groupings from the register is baseless and admonished the party against raising such baseless suspicions.
“There is also a point about transfer of staff and the context in which they looked at it. This is an administrative action, if indeed there have been transfers. On what basis are you questioning that administrative act by an election management body if it decides to transfer? It is not new. Transfers within the EC did not start today.”
“They made another point about deletion of people with some ethnic names. We ought not to encourage the growing of suspicions that have no foundation,” he added.
The Director of Advocacy and Policy Management at CDD-Ghana, Dr. Kojo Pumpuni Asante who also spoke on the show agreed with Mr. Baako’s view. He stated that the electoral review process which includes the de-duplication and exhibition put in place by the Electoral Management body would offer political parties the opportunity to have their concerns addressed.
Mr. Asante is of the view that the transfers of IT personnel to the regional and districts level is to avert any challenge that might occur with EC’s data as those levels constitute the core point of the Commission’s data collection. He however agreed with the NDC’S call for those found to have engaged in multiple registrations and other electoral offenses to be made available to the various stakeholders.
On the issues of expunging names of minors and foreigners, Mr. Asante concedes that the existing cleanup processes are incapable of detecting minor and foreigner registrants.
The NDC on August 13, 2020 addressed a press conference demanding for an independent audit of the newly compiled voter register in order to address issues of de-duplication and multiple registrations. The party based its call on suspicion that the electoral management body is scheming to delete names of registrants of certain ethnic groupings.
