General News of Saturday, 25 June 2016
Source: citifmonline.com
Charlotte Osei
Pro-opposition group, Let My Vote Count Alliance has indicated that the Electoral Commission (EC) will not be able to produce the list of NHIS-card registrants in the current voters’ register by June 29, as ordered by the Supreme Court.
According to the group, over 4 million people registered using NHIS cards, and the EC, even if given 10 years, will not be able to fish out those names.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the EC to produce the list on or before June 29, to enable it to give clarity to its earlier ruling on cleaning the electoral roll.
The EC has subsequently given notice that it would meet the deadline issued by the Court.
But at a press conference today [Friday], in reaction to the Commission’s assurances, Convener of the pressure group, David Asante, warned the Commission against providing any fictitious lists.
“We are shocked by this. To put it as bluntly as we can this is a bare face lie. The EC will not and cannot meet the deadline. We will go further to say that even if the EC is given ten years to go through every single one of the 14 million and over registration forms since 2012, it will not be able to come out with any credible list of those who registered using NHIS cards.
“In other words, the only way the Electoral Commission will be able to meet the June 29 deadline or any other deadline is to come out the fictitious list of people it claims it registered using NHIS cards. This will be criminal and we certainly hope that no such move is under contemplation by the EC.”
EC can’t meet deadline
The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has expressed similar views, saying the Commission may not be able to furnish the Supreme Court with the full list of persons who registered onto the voters’ register with the National Health Insurance Scheme cards (NHIS), as proof of citizenship within six days.
Speaking to Citi News, the National Coordinator of CODEO, Albert Kofi Arhin, said the EC does not have all the documents in its database for it to be able to fully determine all those who registered using NHIS cards, for subsequent deletion.
“We know for example that the EC has not got this particular information in the data because at the time that the registration was done, it was not scanned into the database so that means they have to do it outside the database by going into the ballot boxes and getting these documents…We have a fear that the way things are going we might not be able to get the timetable working as it should. It is not going to be a smooth affair.”
We’II respect Supreme Court orders – EC
Despite the fears expressed by CODEO and LMVC , the Commission has said it will be able to produce the list of all persons who registered within six days.
Head of Communication at the Electoral Commission, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, told Citi News the Commission respects the orders of the court.