The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), has questioned the whereabouts of the 17 million Ghana Cards the National Identification Authority (NIA) says it has issued to registrants.
The civil society organisation is asking the Authority if it has completed those cards and their owners have refused to go for them.
CODEO’s question come on the back of the recent limited voter registration exercise organised by the Electoral Commission (EC) which had most of the registrants using the guarantor system.
National Coordinator of CODEO, Albert Arhin, speaking on Hot Issues with Keminni Amanor on TV3 Sunday, June 02, 2024, lamented how the political parties capitalise on the guarantor system to abuse the process.
“It’s abusive and the parties are happy because it gives them the opportunity to bring in people. So, I was happy when the EC said they were going to use the IDs issued by the NIA to do this exercise.
“And if you listen to what happened yesterday at the IPAC, 63 per cent of the people used the guarantor system. Which I think is too high,” Mr. Arhin lamented.
“Why is it that, till date, people are still not using those cards to go and do it?” he questioned.
“The question you will ask yourself is, the NIA told us some time back that they have given about 17 million of these cards. Where are the cards? Are they lying down [and] people are not collecting? For example those that they have finished, are they not collecting them?” he probed further.
The EC ended its 2024 limited voter registration exercise on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
The exercise, which span for 21 days, commenced on Tuesday, May 7, and was extended by two days to make up for the challenges that fraught the first two days of the process.
The Commission targeted 623,000 first-time voters to be enrolled in the national album ahead of the 2024 election.
Despite the initial technical challenges that marred the exercise on the first two days and on the last day, political party agents expressed satisfaction with the process, stating that they met their targets.
Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa, has emphasised the importance of compiling a credible voter register as election 2024 beckons.
She said that without a credible voter register, there can never be transparent elections.
Addressing a news conference in Accra on Monday, May 6, ahead of the 2024 limited voter registration exercise, Jean Mensa said the EC was poised to deliver a credible and transparent election.
“As a commission, we remain poised and ready to deliver credible, transparent and peaceful elections and electoral processes starting with the 2024 registration exercise.
“It is well known that the voters register is a bedrock of an election. Without a credible and accurate voter register, there can be no transparent and acceptable elections,” she stated.
