The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, believes that relying solely on the Ghana card for voter registration will be difficult.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has proposed that the Ghana card be used as the sole document for voter registration in the general election in 2024.
However, during a media briefing in Parliament on Tuesday (7 November), Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is also the Leader of Government Business in the House, cited ongoing challenges in the issuance of Ghana cards by the National Identification Authority (NIA) as a setback, implying that the Ghana card should not be used as the sole document for voter registration.
The engagement, which is held at the start of each Meeting under the auspices of Parliament’s media relations department, aims to ensure open interactions among the leaders and the parliamentary press corps, primarily within the scope of the Meeting’s work agenda.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame, stated that many eligible voters had not yet received the card and that some who had registered for it were still waiting.
“The EC’s initial decision to link voter registration for the District Level Elections (DLE) to the Ghana card has faced criticism because it excludes eligible voters who do not have the card,” he said. Making the Ghana Card the sole document for voter registration would raise similar concerns.
“Many people do not have the Ghana card, and some people who have registered for the card have not received it.” And, given the District Level Elections (DLE)’s tendency to have tied registration to the Ghana card, knowing that some eligible Ghanaians have not been registered to receive Ghana cards, saying you were limiting it to the Ghana card would be problematic.
“If they (EC) can guarantee that every eligible Ghanaian will be issued a Ghana card, then you can bring the instrument based on the Ghana card.” “However, if you admit that not every eligible Ghanaian has been or can be registered, it becomes difficult to tie registration solely to the Ghana card,” he said.
The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, stated that the Ghana card was not proof of identity and could not replace the right to vote in a democratic process.
“About 62% of people who registered had no Ghana card and it ties exactly to what the House decided,” he told reporters.
Dr. Forson therefore urged the EC to reconsider their decision and collaborate closely with the NIA to ensure the registration of eligible voters.
