THE Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, yesterday put to rest concerns raised by some political parties and identifiable groups about the need for verification of the biometric register by saying that the commission has made provision in its budget to the government for the verification gadgets for the 2012 elections.
However, he cautioned that the verification per se was not the panacea to electoral fraud, double voting and stealing of ballot boxes, because what were required of all, especially political parties, were vigilance, honesty and decent electoral behaviour.
Speaking at the opening of the first international conference on peace and good governance by the West African Parliamentary Press Corps (WAPPC) in Accra, Dr Afari-Gyan wondered what the need for verification and biometric registration would serve when the EC was able to successfully undertake the exercise but on the election day people decided to carry ballot boxes away or engage in double voting.
The two-day conference is on the theme: “The role of the media in ensuring peace and good governance in West Africa”.
Verification of the intended biometric register has become a contentious issue among political parties and identifiable groups. While the New Patriotic Party(NPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Catholic Bishops Conference are pushing for verification, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) believes the verification process could put unnecessary pressure on the financial resources of the country.
The NDC also thinks that honesty and integrity on the part of stakeholders were what was required.
The EC Chairman urged the media and other commentators to allow the EC and the political parties ample time in a sober mood to discuss thoroughly the issues concerning the biometric registration and the intended verification.
He noted that dialogue was paramount because there could be instances where electricity would either not be available at all or go off at certain polling centres, adding that the stakeholders should agree on what would be the way forward.
Dr Afari-Gyan, who did not rule out the connivance of some political parties with electoral officers at polling stations to perpetuate electoral fraud, indicated that “the EC does not supervise stealing; it is rather the political parties that indulge in such acts”.
He said if the political parties which always wanted to resort to all sorts of frivolous means to win elections would mend their ways and exhibit high sense of honesty and sincerity, the country could use the resources for both the biometric registration and the verification to grow and sustain its democracy.
Regarding the budget for the verification, he reminded the gathering that as usual with all government-financed organisations, there were times their budgets would be reduced even when Parliament had approved of it.
He contended that there would not be the need to spend so much on biometric registration and verification which would require at least 23,000 gadgets if political parties “will not resurrect dead people to come to vote during elections”.
Dr Afari-Gyan gave an instance in Sene Constituency where children who could only go to the polling stations on their mothers’ backs were registered.
He expressed worry that some Ghanaians, particularly political party leaders and commentators, had either intentionally or out of ignorance confused the issues of biometric registration with biometric voting, with others pontificating as if the biometric registration was equal to biometric voting, explaining that “there was no logistical relationship between biometric registration and electronic voting”.
He admonished that knowledge was very crucial when it came to the work of the EC, especially with regards to registration and voting, and urged people who would make public pronouncements on such matters to first apprise themselves very well on issues “before polluting the air”.
The EC chairman also indicated that no country in Africa had ever used biometric verification for its biometric register during elections and said even in South Africa, the closest they came to was to check the identity cards and not biometric verification.
The Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, in a speech read on his behalf by the Communication Minister, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, challenged the media in West Africa and in Ghana in particular to muster courage and expose war mongers and others who indulged in the abuse of human rights.
According to him, the activities of such unscrupulous persons had the tendency to disrupt peace and stability.
He also appealed to practitioners in the inky fraternity not to hesitate to raise the red flags and make public hot spots in the country that could degenerate into violent conflicts, particularly chieftaincy disputes, ethnic and political tension.
He reiterated the commitment of the Mills Administration to ensure that there was peace, stability and unity of the country before, during and after the 2012 elections and challenged political parties not to engage in any parochial activity that would serve their interest but negatively affect the well-being of the state.
The Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, urged the media in the West African sub-Region to acquire knowledge and research into issues so that their pronouncements on such issues could be very authoritative and factual.
No comments:
Post a Comment