Over 100 lecturers worried EC could disenfranchise 9 million voters
University lecturers have asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to revisit the decision to compile a new voter roll to prevent robbing nine million Ghanaians their right to vote.
The lecturers were of the view that limiting the requirements for the registration for the new system to Ghana Cards, passports, and two guarantors will disenfranchise about half of the potential voters.
“Holders of passports and Ghanacards will be approximately nine million citizens. If the registration requirement is limited to these two documents, you risk denying about nine million Ghanaians the right to vote in December 2020,” the lecturers noted.
The EC, however, is targeting about 16million voters for the compilation of the new register.
In an open letter to the Chairperson, the Concerned University Lecturers – Ghana, told the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs. Jean Mensa, to “err on the side of caution”.
A spokesperson for the lecturers, Professor Kodzo Gavua, from the University of Ghana, later told theghanareport.com that “the EC must listen to the voice of reason.”
He said, “Social justice demands consensus” and not unilateral decisions as shown by the election management body.
He cited the clergy, chiefs, and several other stakeholders who should have been included in the decision-making before opting for a new voter’s register less than six months to the 2020 polls.
“It is our considered view that the Commission under your leadership seems to have
thrown away the principle of constructive deliberation and consensus-building, and
that to a very large extent has accounted for the current controversy” the lecturers noted.
“Your current unilateral departure from the previous approach to decision making by the Commission has poisoned the electoral environment, and has the potential to undermine the credibility of the 2020 elections,” they added.
Among others, the lecturers said the provisions made by the EC “is a recipe for disaster, as it will provide an entry point for several foreign nationals and underage persons to register.”
Again they asked the EC “to act as a referee without any sign or acts of partiality” while highlighting that “electoral disputes have resulted in the loss of millions of lives in other countries in the sub-region”.
The four-point letter was signed by 101 lecturers drawn from several universities.
Among the lecturers are some known faces associated with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). The opposition party has dragged the EC to the Supreme Court over the matter.
Professor Joshua Alabi, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), who was a flagbearer aspirant, is among the lecturers.
Other lecturers associated with the NDC are Professor Raymond Atuguba and Dr. Michael Kpessa-Whyte.
Below is the letter of the Concerned University Lecturers – Ghana:
EC causing financial loss to the state