The Chair of the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC), Jean Adukwei Mensa, insists that the use of only the national identification (ID) card, popularly known as Ghana Card, for registration is the surest way to ensure the integrity of Ghana’s voter register.
According to her, the Commission will not back down on its proposal to have only the Ghana Card as the sole document of proof for registration since the other means have outdated their usability.
Making direct reference to the guarantor system, Madam Mensa said it was introduced 30 years ago because there was no form of identity then.
“Thirty years on as an evolving democracy, we now have the Ghana Card and we are saying that we must rely on it and these are the very laws that Parliament made. That is LI 2111 and it’s the surest way of ensuring or guaranteeing the integrity of our register.”
Madam Mensa expressed this conviction on Thursday, August 17 when she met journalists in Accra at the ‘Let The Citizen Know’ series.
It was to announce the date for the upcoming district level and unit committee elections as well as this year’s continuous voter registration.
She consequently announced that the elections will be held on Tuesday, December 19.
However, touching on the voter registration, she said the proposed constitutional instrument (CI) tabled before Parliament will ensure that the guarantor system is done away with.
“[With] the proposed draft that is before Parliament, we do not intend to put back the guarantor system because we do not believe that the guarantor system has augured well for us,” she said.
“Thirty years ago when we took this journey and we did not have a Ghana Card, it was only proper that we adopt a system that will ensure that people who didn’t have any documentation could come on board.”
But this CI has been resisted by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is insisting that the guarantor system is maintained.
The party has since fallen short of engaging the EC on many issues as a result of this disagreement.
This is what has delayed the debate on the CI.
