The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) says the petition for a forensic audit of the voters register being demanded by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) must be tabled at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting for the input of other parties and stakeholders on the matter.
Governance expert, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has also called for dialogue to resolve the issues that led to last Tuesday’s regional-based simultaneous street protests by the main opposition party, suggesting that a third-party audit could be explored, while a political scientist, Dr Samuel Kofi Darkwa, said the NDC’s concerns were valid, and that a forensic audit would ensure the reliability of the register.
“CODEO believes that the forum for this issue now should be at IPAC so that it will involve maybe the political parties, the CSOs (civil society organisations) and other organisations so that it will have a broad perspective,” the election observer body said.
In an interview with Graphic Online's Samuel Duodu and Emmanuel Bonney in Accra on Wednesday [Sept 18, 2024], the National Coordinator of CODEO, Albert Arhin, said going forward, the electorate must show interest in the voter exhibition exercise to help to correct possible errors in the data system.
unapparelled luxury
“Truly speaking, many of the issues involved could have been resolved amicably if people had gone in there, for example, to check whether their names were in the register or whether there were discrepancies here and there.
“The bulk of Ghanaians don't go for exhibition exercises. They don't, so what does that mean? Honestly, if we are taking the exhibition exercise seriously, it is supposed to be correcting many of these anomalies,” Mr Arhin said.
Some other prominent figures, namely the Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, and a Development Communications specialist, Patrick Richard Okine, have also added their voices to the call for an audit of the electoral role.
Dialogue
Prof. Agyeman-Duah, who is also a former United Nations Senior Governance Advisor, emphasised the need for consensus-building to resolve the issue, suggesting that a third-party audit could be explored.
"The EC claims to have an in-built audit process, but if there's a real need for a comprehensive audit, the NDC should provide partial evidence," he said.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah recommended legislating forensic audits at specific points during the electoral process to prevent future disputes over the issue.
"Making it a legislative requirement would prevent parties from disputing the register's credibility," he stated.
He also advocated continuous voter registration, leveraging technology to eliminate duplication and deceased individuals' names.
"With the Ghana Card, we can implement continuous registration, eliminating the need for periodic registration and reducing conflicts," he further stated.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah commended the NDC for exercising its democratic right to protest peacefully over concerns with the voters register.
He stressed that "the NDC has raised legitimate concerns, and it's essential that the Electoral Commission (EC) takes note and address them", adding that "if the NDC has evidence of discrepancies, it should present it to the EC".
Dr Akwetey of IDEG said dialogue should be foremost in trying to resolve the issue of the voter register between the NDC and the EC.
He said there was the need for a credible register, and that all should endeavour to cooperate with the EC, and where doubts remained and aggravating, it was important that if an audit would prove to everybody that that was genuine and clean, “that is important”.
That, he said, would help prevent potential violence because suspicion could create a lot of harm.
Dr Akwetey, however, said the call for an audit was in the hands of the EC, and that everyone should add their voices to encourage it.
“It’s a tough job,” he said, referring to the EC, but added that “they should also see what they can do to mitigate the suspicion”.
He, however, charged all the parties and stakeholders to collaborate to ensure that the register was acceptable to all.
The demonstration by the NDC, Dr Akwetey said, was one of the most efficient Ghanaians had seen in recent political history, and described it as peaceful.
But for the incident in Kumasi, where the police and the protesters were locked in a stand-off at the concluding part of the exercise, he said there was no violence and destruction.
“I think the police ought to be commended as well,” Dr Akwetey said.
