Engage Parliament on Ghana card for voter registration C.I – Bagbin to EC

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has called for further engagements from the Electoral Commission ahead of laying of the Constitutional Instrument that seeks to make the Ghana card the sole document for the election 2024 voters registration.

Members of Parliament, especially those on the Minority side have been asking questions about the Electoral commission’s ability to effectively apply the CI in light of challenges with the acquisition of the Ghana card.

The Speaker has thus reiterated his notice to the Electoral Commission to engage the House extensively before laying the Constitutional Instrument.

“If what I am hearing is anything to go by, the Electoral Commission is giving notice, I believe that is not the case because they know they cannot go on the offensive against an arm of government. We are not just a state institution, we are not an administrative body, this is an arm of government.

“When they talk about the independence of arms, they mean, neither the executive nor the judiciary control either arm… That is what separation of powers is all about. We have to work together because we lead the government. We passed the law to create the Electoral Commission…I hope this is enough notice,” Alban Bagbin Friday morning.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has repetitively assured Ghanaians that it has no intention to use the Ghana Card as a source of identification for the 2024 general elections.

It said it would continue to issue the voters identification cards which would be used for the elections.

The draft constitutional instrument entitled: Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021 has sparked controversy, especially the section that sought to make the Ghana Card the sole form of identification for eligible voters who wanted to get onto the national register.

However, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised issues with the C.I. stating that it has never been party to any consultation or meeting in whatsoever form that agreed to make the Ghana Card the sole identification document for the upcoming limited voter registration exercise.

The party has, therefore, served notice that it will use all legitimate means to oppose the decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to use the Ghana Card as the sole identification document for voter registration.

Aside from the NDC, a former chair of the commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has also argued that any attempt by the EC to use the Ghana Card as the sole document for voter registration would lead to the disenfranchisement of millions of Ghanaians for which reason the C.I should be looked at again before Parliament gave approval