The Electoral Commission (EC) is confident that transitioning to using the Ghana Card as the exclusive identification for elections will mitigate the confrontations witnessed during the recent voter transfer exercise.
Incidents of confusion and violence, notably in Weija where the son of MP Mavis Hawa Koomson was injured, underscored the need for this change.
Following discussions with over 50 civil society organizations aimed at ensuring peaceful elections in the upcoming general elections, EC Chairperson Jean Mensa addressed the media.
She expressed satisfaction with the contributions from the CSOs and emphasized the urgency for Parliament to pass legislation recognizing the Ghana Card as the sole requirement for voter registration in future elections.
”We have just concluded as I mentioned the transfer of votes exercise and it also went very well. We did observe some unrest and conflicts in some of the centres.
Thankfully no lives were lost, and we do hope that the conflicts around the guarantor system which lead to parties challenging their opponents because they come to the stations, they bus the people to the station and come using the guarantor system.”
”We hope that in the future parliament will be in agreement with the EC’s proposal to make the Ghana card the sole document identification card but that will be after 2024.”
Albert Kofi Arhin, National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), has called on the Electoral Commission to increase efforts in promoting peace leading up to the elections.
He highlighted heightened tensions and a sense of desperation among the population as reasons for this urgent appeal.
“If the EC has now opened its doors to everybody, especially with the CSOs, we are going to tell the story together with the EC and we would have to educate the people. I have a feeling that we need to be very careful this year because of the nature of the election that we are going to have.”
“Why because tensions are very high, the economic situation in the country sometimes is dicey, and people are desperate, so we need to educate the people about peace.”
There have been discussions about involving journalists in IPAC meetings to ensure credible dissemination of information exchanged among the parties involved.
