Alleged bloated voters register is true — GCPP produces evidence

The controversy surrounding the alleged bloated voters register has been deepened by the disclosure that figures obtained by the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) from the EC corroborate the claim by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The GCPP has consequently called for an independent body to investigate the issue and remove the extra names from the register before the voters registration process begins.
While the GCPP figures corroborate the figures obtained by the NDC, they both are at variance with the register distributed by the EC Chairman, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, to the various political parties at the recent Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) held on March 4, 2008 in Accra.
According to the figures obtained from the EC by the GCPP which had a cover letter with reference number C/EC.07/SF.13/VOL2/100, dated June 14, 2007 and signed by Mr Daniel K. Amanyo on behalf of the chairman of the EC, some of the registered voters for Ashanti are as follows: Ejisu Juaben, 155,042; Ejura Sekyeredumasi, 84,182; Kwabre East, 124,842; Kwabre West, 77,264; Asante Akim South, 95,444; Asante Akim North, 129,046.
However, the register given by the EC at the IPAC meeting gives the following figures, Ejisu Juaben, 78,170; Ejura Sekyeredumasi, 38,114; Kwabre East, 62,733; Kwabre West, 38,802; Asante Akim South, 47,874; Asante Akim North, 64,683.
The letter covering the register stated: “I forward herewith information requested in your letter dated February 19, 2007 on the above subject or your study, please.”
“I am stunned by such revelation, the EC must apologise to Ghanaians and launch an independent inquiry to ascertain how the figures were bloated, correct the discrepancies and ensure that such a serious mistake never happens again,” Mr Dan Lartey, the leader and founder of the GCPP, told the Daily Graphic.
He said the register could not be used as a credible document to organise the 2008 general election with the huge flaws.
He said it was through such fictitious moves that elections were rigged in other countries such as Kenya, which culminated in instabilities.
Mr Lartey, who described the revelation as disgusting and a recipe for disaster, did not understand why the EC should institute a three-man investigative committee into such a matter.
“The EC is the one at fault, how can they be the investigator and a judge in a matter concerning them,” he said.
A statement issued earlier by the GCPP and signed by its General Secretary, Mr John Thompson, said the party was amazed at the revelation because at the IPAC meeting, when the question of bloated register came up, the Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, distributed a document to all political parties.
The statement said Dr Afari-Gyan claimed that the document he distributed was the authentic one as far as the Ashanti Region was concerned.
“At this juncture it was suspected that the NDC might have tampered with the CD-ROM that they took from the EC,” it said.
The statement said later when the GCPP did its research from a document it had secured from the EC, it became clear that the figures provided by the NDC agreed with those the GCPP had obtained from the EC, and all the discrepancies that the NDC claimed were true.