The Electoral Commission of Ghana has warned that guarantors who breached the law and perpetuated the act of guaranteeing for more than ten (10) applicants at the just-ended limited voter registration exercise will not go unpunished.
According to the Electoral Commission, names of errant guarantors will be published in the National Dailies and also prosecuted.
The limited voter registration exercise commenced on September 12, 2023, and ended on October 2, 2023.
Updating the media on the exercise yesterday Tuesday, October 17, 2023, following the completion of the exercise, the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Operations at the EC, Mr. Samuel Tettey complained about how the guarantor system was abused during the registration exercise.
He said that based on the identification documents used by applicants, the Guarantor System dominated with 563,919 representing 61.9%.
This, he said, is distantly followed by the Ghana Card at 37.8% and Passport at 0.3%.
“The irony is that the 2020 Voters Register has almost 61% of registered voters using the Ghana Card. How we now have the Ghana Card representing 37.8% is open to several interpretations. However, the Commission is convinced that the Guarantor system has no place in our electoral democracy and we call on all our stakeholders to support the Commission’s endeavor to use the Ghana Card as the sole identification document for registration,” he stated.
Mr Samuel Tettey said, “On the guarantor system, the Commission is of the view that under our current circumstances, the Guarantor system has outlived its usefulness and cannot be maintained.”
He said the best proof of a person’s citizenship in Ghana is the Ghana Card.
“The use of the Guarantor system is fraught with blatant abuse as witnessed in the just ended voters registration exercise,” he added.
Mr Samuel Tettey noted that most countries in the sub-region including Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Rwanda, and Kenya do not use the guarantor system as evidence of identification as a citizen.
“If indeed we are committed to strengthening our electoral processes then the Guarantor system must be abolished sooner than later,” he stated.
He therefore called on the Government to fund NIA and entreated Parliament to approve or pass the C.I. on the registration of voters.
He also observed that minors were bussed to registration centers by some citizens, adding that the Commission abhors the encouragement of minors to register, stating that it was a crime.
“It does not augur well for us as a nation and we urge all citizens and stakeholders to join the Commission to solve this long age canker. The sad fact is that these minors were bussed to registration centers by citizens who should know better. This is unpardonable and we once again, call on the government to resource the NIA to produce the cards and the Parliament to approve the C.I. to enable us to use the Ghana Card as the sole means to identify a person’s citizenship,” he stated.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com