‘Agree for once’ – Asiedu Nketiah to EC over refusal to maintain guarantor system

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is urging the Electoral Commission (EC) to abandon plans to use the Ghana Card as the sole document for voter registration.

The party claims that the EC must comply with calls from civil society organizations, Ghanaians, and former Chair, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan to keep the guarantor system in the electoral identification system.

According to NDC National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the National Identity Registration law allows for the guarantor system as an identification mechanism, so the EC must follow suit.

“Why would the EC insist on making the Ghana Card the sole document for registration of voters when the National Identity Register law allows for the guarantor system as an identification mechanism?”

“In the interest of our democracy and development, the Jean Mensa-led EC should for once agree with the opposition NDC, Civil Society Organizations, and other well-meaning Ghanaians including the venerable Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Ghana’s longest-serving former Chairman of the Electoral Commission and foremost authority on electoral issues, who insists that the guarantor system must be maintained in our electoral system.”

Mr. Asiedu Nketiah made the remarks when he addressed the NDC’s press conference held on Monday dubbed the ‘True State of the Nation Address’.

The EC has announced sweeping reforms to voter registration and voting, two years before the next general elections.

These will affect source documents for voter registration and the voter ID system, and will take effect with the maturation of a yet-to-be laid constitutional instrument.

The Commission while debunking claims that the Ghana Card will be used as Voter Identification in 2024, insisted the Ghana Card will be the sole document for limited and continuous voter registrations.

EC believes the guarantor system is fraught with many challenges and could no longer provide a secure system of voter registration for the country insisting that the guarantor system for acquiring Ghana card is more robust.

Johnson Asiedu Nketiah believes the EC cannot be trusted with these new electoral amendments.

With the difficulties associated with the acquisition of the Ghana card, the EC has urged the National Identification Authority to accelerate the printing of Ghana cards to enable prospective voters to register to vote.