Parliament has no mandate to annul old voter register – Dr Afari-Gyan

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan says Parliament has no mandate to annul the old voter register.

Speaking to TV3 in an interview on July 3, 2012, the EC boss revealed that, the biometric register as it stands now will have to travel its full legal journey to become an authentic register for voting in the December elections.

“Those who are talking know about this,” he said, adding “If somebody’s nationality is challenged, a High Court judge must determine it. All these issues must be resolved before the biometric register can be valid for elections.”

In accordance with Article 112 of Ghana’s constitution, the EC announced the dates for the two bye elections in Wulensi and Kwabre West following the deaths of two Members of Parliament.

However, according to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the EC will be engaging in an illegality if it goes ahead to use the old voters register to organize two forthcoming bye-elections because the old register has been outlawed following a legislation passed on March 25, 2012.

The party insists that the EC must use the new biometric voters register and a verification system to organize the two bye-elections.

The NPP is also challenging the EC to state which register it will be using to conduct the bye-elections.

By Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor