The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Ghana, Jean Mensa, has indicated that the use of the Ghana Card as the sole identification document for continuous voters’ registration will guarantee the credibility and integrity of the country’s voter register and aid elections as a whole.
This follows her invitation to parliament on Tuesday February 28, 2023.
For the part of the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Professor Ken Attafuah, he insisted that his outfit was ready to issue Ghana cards to eligible citizens voters to aid the EC in the registration process.
Ken Ofori-Atta, the minister of finance, also pledged that the government would honor all financial obligations made to support the voter registration effort.
However,the Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) put up arguments to support their stance but were not persuaded by the procedure to make the Ghana Card the only form of identification accepted for registration.
The EC chairperson was there to inform the Committee of the Whole on the revised draft Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2022.
The Finance Minister and the Executive Secretary of the NIA were also present to brief the committee on the feasibility of using the Ghana Card as the only form of identification for the ongoing registration of new voters, as proposed in a new Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) that has not yet been presented to Parliament.
It followed a directive by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, last Thursday for the EC Chairperson to come and give members insight into the new draft C.I.
She made an appearance in the House alongside the NIA’s executive secretary and the minister of finance.
The trio emphasized the various difficulties that the commission’s and the NIA’s implementation face, as well as what the Finance Ministry should do to make their work easier.
The briefing formed part of pre-laying consultation processes with Parliament before the EC could lay the C.I. in the House.
