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EC, NIA plotting to rig 2020 election – NDC alleges

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is alleging that the Electoral Commission (EC), in collaboration with the National Identification Authority (NIA), is scheming to rig the December 2020 polls in favour of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the governing New Patriotic Party. 

It said the scheme was hinged on suppressing voter registration in the opposition party’s strongholds through the Ghana Card and impending voter registration exercises.   

The Electoral Commission had indicated that it would go ahead with its planned voter registration exercise and its base document would be the Ghana Card and the Ghana passport. 

In the absence of the above, however, the Commission said a registered voter is eligible to guarantee for at least two applicants.     

At a press conference addressed by the party’s National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofu, in Accra yesterday, the NDC said the Ghana Card registration exercise in its strongholds have been inefficient as compared to the ones governing party’s bases. 

With the NDC traditionally having massive support in the Volta, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions, the NPP historically have won the Ashanti and Eastern Regions since the return to multi-party democracy in 1992. 

This was, however, before new regions were carved out of the Volta, and Northern Regions. The Western, Central, Brong-Ahafo, and Greater Accra Regions have been considered swing regions at the polls.  

According to Mr Ampofu, of the estimated 887,906 persons aged 18 and above expected to be captured by the NIA in the Volta Region, only 386,676 were issued with their cards with over 501,230 representing 56.45 without a card. 

For the Northern Region, the NDC Chairman said 653,833 representing 66.59 registrants are yet to be issued with their NIA cards to enable them apply to register should the voter registration exercise commence. 

In the Upper East and West Regions, he said 93.64 and 94.83 eligible registrants were yet to be issued their NIA cards. 

On the contrary, however, Mr Ampofo said in the Ashanti Region, out of the estimated 3,222,371 eligible residents aged 18 and above expected to be captured by the NIA data, 1,620,433 representing 50.29 have been issued their cards. 

In the Eastern Region, he said of the expected 1,805,195 registrants, 572,534 have been issued their cards leaving 1,232,662 representing 68.28 waiting to be issued their Ghana cards. 

He alleged that the NIA deployed an average of 2,000 registration equipment per region in the 15 other regions but in a sharp contrast “when it got to the turn of the Ashanti Region, the NIA miraculously increased the number of equipment for the exercise to 5,692.

“The NIA provided additional 810 card printers to improve throughput and delivery and added 3,192 workstations to the pool during the Ashanti Region registration exercise.”

With the above, Mr Ofosu Ampofo said the Electoral Commission, with the tacit endorsement of the government had set in an agenda to rig the polls in favour of the President Akufo-Addo but the NDC would do everything legally possible to scuttle that plan. 

“Election rigging is not a one day event. It takes place overtime through the systematic manipulation of processes leading to election day,” he stated and called on Ghanaians to speak against the plan which has the propensity to destabilise the country.

BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI 

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