According to John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), he is dissatisfied with the ruling of the Supreme Court allowing the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile the new voters register ahead of the general elections in 2020.
Mr Mahama, expressing his dissatisfaction, said the Supreme Court’s ruling is disappointing to the NDC and Ghanaians at large.
In a televised broadcast on Thursday, June 25, he said “The supreme court of the Republic of Ghana gave its ruling in a case brought by the NDC against the Electoral Commission of Ghana over its decision to compile a new voters register … the apex court of our land has given a leeway for the EC to go ahead with the exclusion of the existing voter identification card from the list of identification requirements for the registration for the register. We are deeply disappointed and we strongly disagree with the court over this outcome which has confounded many legal experts and indeed has thrown the whole country into a state of confusion.”
Mr Mahama also added that the Supreme Court made the decided deliberately to give reasons for their judgement on July 15, 2020; two weeks into the registration exercise just to favour the EC.
Lamenting over the issue, he said “Our legal team is examining this decision even as we await the full reasons for this judgement. It is also worrying that the court deferred the reasons for its decision to 15th of July, a date by which time the EC would have been two weeks into the said registration exercise.”
However, Mr Mahama stressed that the NDC strongly believe and will continue to promote democracy within Ghana as it is the fundamentals on which the party was built and formed .
“Throughout its history, the NDC has stood strongly for an inclusive democracy, that is because our party is built on the principle that no one should be left out in the governance process of Ghana,” he said.
On Thursday, June 25, 2020, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a case filed by the NDC to stop the EC from compiling a new voters register for the December 2020 general elections.
In their writ, the opposition NDC stated that the EC’s decision to start a new voters register was unnecessary and costly. It will also disenfranchise a lot of Ghanaians since most of them do not have the Ghana Card or passport which is also one of the primary requirements for the registration.
The NDC party was praying the court directs the EC to add the existing voters ID card as well as birth certificates as part of the requirement. However, the Supreme Court did not find merit in the NDC’s case, therefore, ruling in favour of the EC.
