The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Hon. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo has urged the Electoral Commission (EC) not to rely solely on the Ghana Card for registration for the 2024 election.
This comes after the presented a draft C. I to Parliament last month titled: Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021, which proposes that the Ghana Card should be the only form of identification required for eligible voters who wish to be added to the electoral roll.
Speaking in an interview with OilCity Radio in Kwesimintsim-Takoradi, Mr. Ampofo said the National Identification Authority (NIA), has proven to be an inefficient system since there are millions of Ghanaians who have not received their cards yet after registering.
“The NDC is not against the Ghana Card, however, as I speak to you there are millions of Ghanaians who have still not received their cards after their registration. How to even distribute the cards to these people is a problem.
“Because after the registration was done at the various electoral centers, NIA directed people to go to their district offices for their cards …some of these offices are far from their homes….and when you go there they tell you your card can’t be found,” Mr. Ampofo lamented.
He further stated that some people with missing cards have reported to the NIA for a replacement, however for six months to a year now, the Authority has failed to replace these cards.
He reiterated that the SIM card registration deadline slated for September 30, by the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, should be further extended due to the gross incompetence of the NIA.
“The EC cannot say it is going to rely on such an inefficient organisation like the NIA for the registration of the election 2024. I don’t know if this act is deliberate to ensure that a lot of people do not get their cards…nobody knows…but it is very difficult to get the Ghana Card,” he added.
He urged the EC to use other identification documents for the upcoming election exercise to enable a lot of eligible citizens to participate in the election 2024.
The former Chairman of the EC, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan has reiterated that EC’s decision to use the Ghana Card as the only source document for continuous voter registration can disenfranchise millions of qualified electorates.
He advised the EC to take a careful look at its insistence on the Ghana Card because, despite its crucial role in elections, the EC was not the decider of elections, but rather the electorate.
