Inusah Fuseini, a former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central and a former Minister for Roads and Highways, has asked the Electoral Commission of Ghana not to use Ghana Card as a means to disenfranchise voters.
This statement by the former lawmaker comes after the Electoral Commission (EC) stated that the Ghana Card will be a requirement for voting in the 2024 election.
EC’s Dr. Bossman Asare said without a Ghana Card, one will not be registered to vote.
“Commission in collaboration with our partners took the decision that now let us have the Ghana Card as the main requirement. So what this means is that as soon as you acquire your Ghana Card with a continuous registration, you just go to our district office where you are located then you go and register and your name will be put on the roll of voters,” he said.
Reacting to the EC’s decision on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with host Kaakyire Ofori Ayim, Inusah Fuseini, a former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central said the EC is abusing its mandate as the country’s electoral decision maker.
Read Also: Ghana Card: Over 15M cards issued– Ofori Atta
Inusah Fuseini also called for an independent body to regulate political parties and conduct general elections.
According to him, the right to vote is a fundamental human right that needs to be respected.
“You don’t put impediments in the way of people to frustrate and prevent their enjoyment of that right. The Ghana card is a very important card, agreed. But it should not be used in a way that disenfranchise people,” Inusah Fuseini told Kaakyire Ofori Ayim.
Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, has revealed that 15.7M cards have been issued out of the 16,895,108 Ghanaians that were enrolled on the National Identification programme as of June 2022.
“Digitalization is key to automation, data integration and utilisation in the modern economy. To this end, Government continued the implementation of our National Identification programme which is the foundation of our transformative digitisation agenda. As at June 2022, 16,895,108 Ghanaians were enrolled, out of which 15.7 million Ghana Cards have been issued,” he added while presenting the mid-year budget review in Parliament on Monday July 25 2022.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu
