The Electoral Commission is sure that utilizing the Ghana Card as the sole identity for future elections will remove the conflicts that occurred during the recent voter transfer process.
Several episodes of misunderstanding and violence occurred during the exercise, particularly in Weija, where the son of Mavis Hawa Koomson, Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, was hurt.
Addressing the media during a meeting with civil society organizations, the Commission’s Chairperson, Jean Mensa, expressed hope that Parliament will see the need to approve legislation making the Ghana Card the sole condition for registering to vote. The Commission worked with more than 50 civil society organizations to ensure peaceful elections in the 2018 general elections.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Mensa, expressed satisfaction with the contributions made by the CSOs but also emphasised the need for Parliament to see the necessity of using the Ghana Card as the sole requirement in future elections to avoid the conflicts recorded in the just-ended vote transfer exercise.
”We have just concluded as I mentioned the transfer of votes exercise and it also went very well. We did observe some unrest and conflicts in some of the centres. Thankfully no lives were lost, and we do hope that the conflicts around the guarantor system which lead to parties challenging their opponents because they come to the stations, they bus the people to the station and come using the guarantor system.”
”We hope that in the future parliament will be in agreement with the EC’s proposal to make the Ghana card the sole document identification card but that will be after 2024.”
Albert Kofi Arhin, National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), encouraged the Electoral Commission to step up peace efforts ahead of the elections, noting rising tensions and despair among the population.
“If the EC has now opened its doors to everybody, especially with the CSOs, we are going to tell the story together with the EC and we would have to educate the people. I have a feeling that we need to be very careful this year because of the nature of the election that we are going to have.”
“Why because tensions are very high, the economic situation in the country sometimes is dicey, and people are desperate, so we need to educate the people about peace.”
Meanwhile, concerns about journalists’ participation in IPAC meetings were raised to ensure the credible dissemination of information shared by the parties engaged.
