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New voters' register : Take responsibility for your decisions; Asiedu Nketia tells EC

By Justice Kofi Bimpeh
General Secretary of the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia
General Secretary of the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia
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The General Secretary of the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia has asked the Electoral Commission, EC, to take responsibility for their decision rather than pushing it on the Inter-party Advisory Committee, IPAC.

Speaking on Joy FM's Newsfile, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said the decision to compile a new voters' register was not extensively discussed and not on the agenda of the IPAC meeting as suggested by the Electoral Commission in their press statement.

"The new Electoral Commission always want to take decisions but when it comes to responsibilities they want to shift it to other stakeholders.

"The problem is that if you want to involve me in a discussion you better involve me and if you don't, take your decisions and be responsible for it," he added.

The Electoral Commission in the statement said the decision was made at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on (Wednesday, March 27, 2019).

“The Commission will compile new voters register ahead of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.”

Key amongst some of the plans ahead of the general election is a new Constitutional Instrument (CI) to assess and guide the financial positions of the various political parties.

The Commission is preparing a draft Constitutional Instrument to regulate and streamline the format of Financial Returns and Audited Accounts of the Political Parties” the statement added.

But, after extensive deliberations today, the following key decisions were made and adopted by IPAC and the Electoral Commission:

1. The District Level Elections and the Referendum will be conducted on the same day during the last quarter of 2019.

2. The Commission will undertake a Limited Registration of new voters’ prior to the District Level Elections and Referendum in May 2019. The registration will take place in all the District Offices of the Electoral Commission across the country.

3. The Commission will compile a new voters’ register ahead of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.

In response to the statement, the NDC has denied agreeing with the Electoral Commission’s decision to compile a new voters’ register for the next general elections.

According to the party, never was such a decision taken during Wednesday’s Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting.

“We take particular notice of a portion of the EC press release which states as follows: “The Commission will compile new voters register ahead of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. We wish to state emphatically and without any fear of contradiction, that no decision was taken on this matter.”

The NDC, it is, therefore, demanding the withdrawal of the communique issued by the Electoral Commission because no such consensus was reached.

“In fact, the compilation of a new voters’ register was only mentioned in passing by the Electoral Commission during a discussion on limited registration. There certainly was no “extensive deliberations “ on this particular matter”, the statement added.

There was a problem with the drafting of the press statement

Editor of the New Crusading Guide Kweku Baako has said there was a problem with the draft of the press release, according to him, the Electoral Commission has erred in the statement but the NDC reading meaning into the action is not right.

Recounting the history of the collaboration by the Electoral Commission and IPAC, Kweku Baako said they should stop the media war and get to the tables and solve the differences.

Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa has also asked the Electoral Commission to withdraw the statement.

"I think the Electoral Commission should respectfully withdraw any decision concerning this matter."

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