New voter roll: ChaLoG to sue EC

The Chamber for Local Governance (ChaLoG) has served notice that it will be suing the Electoral Commission of Ghana over moves by the election management body to compile a new register for the 2020 general elections.

According to ChaLog, the Chair of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa, in a recent statement issued by the EC after the district level elections, noted that the assembly polls were successful and the biometric voter devices and the electoral role functioned effectively.

In ChaLoG’s view, therefore, it would amount to a waste of public funds for the EC to compile a new roll for this year’s elections.

The Chamber, in a statement signed by its President, Dr Richard Fiadomor, said: “Just after the district-level elections, the EC came out publicly to tout its successful conduct of the 17th December 2019 elections with respect to the planning, preparation and execution.

“The same EC indicated to Ghanaians [that] it spent $2 million to prepare the BVDs to conduct the district-level elections in all 28,921 polling stations (but for 3 Electoral areas) across the country and all the BVDs functioned effectively and none of the BVDs malfunctioned on the Election Day (a position amply corroborated by CODEO).

“It is, therefore, surprising that the very same commission which spent $2 million of the taxpayers’ money to prepare the BVDs, is now telling Ghanaians that these same BVDs have become obsolete (immediately after the district-level elections) and, hence, cannot be compatible with its new IT software so the taxpayer’ money of GHS 444 million should wantonly be dissipated on a new IT Infrastructure and the compilation of a New Biometric Voters Register.”

ChaLoG said it has taken the necessary steps to invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to either annul the 2019 district-level elections or place an injunction on the EC not to go ahead with the compilation of a new biometric voter register.

Read ChaLoG’s full statement below:

ChaLoG TO INVOKE THE ORIGINAL JURISDICTION OF THE SUPREME COURT TO ANNUL THE DISTRICT LEVEL ELECTIONS OR INJUNCT THE EC FROM COMPILING A NEW BIOMETRIC VOTERS REGISTER

The Chamber for Local Governance (ChaLoG) has taken note of a Press Conference organized by the EC on the 31st December, 2019 justifying the need to compile a New Biometric Voters Register for the 2020 General Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. ChaLoG is completely at a loss why the EC will make such a call exactly two (2) weeks after the successful conduct of the 17th December, 2019 District Level Elections.

Ghanaians would recall that ten (10) days prior to the conduct of the District Level Elections, the EC met the representatives of political parties at an IPAC meeting and indicated to them that most of their Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) were defective and not functioning well and hence there was the need to have these BVDs replaced ahead of the 2020 General Elections. The EC further indicated to the Political Parties that its IT System had become out-moded and hence not compatible with the BVDs which therefore will necessitate a compilation of a New Biometric Voters Register because the current Biometric Voters Register was defective and not credible.

On the basis of the aforementioned reasons, ChaLoG officially called on the EC to as a matter of urgency postpone the 17th December District Level Elections. The EC in a sharp response through a Press Conference once again made it abundantly clear  to all Ghanaians that the current Biometric Voters Register was very credible just that it was over-stretched, that notwithstanding, the Commission had taken all the necessary measures to ensure that all the BVDs and BVRs worked successfully without any let or hindrance.

Just after the District Level Elections, the EC came out publicly to tout its successful conduct of the 17th December, 2019 elections with respect to the planning, preparation and execution. The same EC indicated to Ghanaians it spent $2 million to prepare the BVDs to conduct the District Level Elections in all 28,921 Polling Stations (but for 3 Electoral areas) across the country and all the BVDs functioned effectively and none of the BVDs malfunctioned on the Election Day (a position amply corroborated by CODEO).

It is therefore surprising that the very same commission which spent $2 million of the Tax Payers Money to prepare the BVDs is now telling Ghanaians that these same BVDs have become obsolete (immediately after the District Level Elections) and hence cannot be compatible with its new IT Software so the Tax Payers Money of GHS 444 million should wantonly be dissipated on a new IT Infrastructure and the compilation of a New Biometric Voters Register.

Against this background therefore, the EC needs to urgently prepare to appear before the apex court to answer the following questions to clear the confusion in the minds of the Taxpayers whose sweat and toil it is seeking to profligately spend to procure new IT software and compile a New Biometric Voters Register:

1.    Is the EC intending to create more Polling Stations in addition to the current 28,921 Polling Stations to conduct the 7th December General Elections?

2.    How many BVDs did the EC deploy to the 28,921 Polling Stations to conduct the District Level Elections (DLE)?

3.    Has the BVDs that the EC spent $2 million on to conduct the District Level Elections become obsolete immediately after 17th December, 2019?

4.    Why is it not possible to spend the same amount ($2 million) on the very same BVDs to conduct the 2020 General Elections (assuming they all became obsolete just after the 2019 DLE?

5.    What was the percentage of voters who could not be verified biometrically by the BVDs in the immediate past DLE?

6.    Did the EC procure any new BVDs for the 2018 Referendum to create the Six (6) New Regions which recorded an average of 98% voter turnout?

7.    How much did the EC spend to clean up the BVDs that were used to conduct the 2018 Referendum to create the Six (6) New Regions?

8.    Did the EC spend any part of the $2 million on the procurement of any new BVDs to conduct the 2019 DLE?

9.    At what point in time did the EC notice that their BVDs have become obsolete and IT Systems also becoming outmoded?

10.    Why can’t the EC simply organise a National Stakeholders Forum of IT Experts to brainstorm on the best way forward, rather than seeking to wantonly dissipate GHS 444 million of the taxpayers’ money just to throw away all the BVDs which with all intent and purposes are functioning well?

ChaLoG is, therefore, of the firm conviction that the reasons so far advanced by the EC to procure a new IT System and compile a New Biometric Voters Register are simply unjustifiable and untenable.

The continual insistence of the EC to go ahead to compile a New Biometric Voters Register in spite of the overwhelming evidence of the effective functionality of the BVDs for the 2012 General Elections, 2015 District Level Elections, 2018 Referendum and 2019 District Level Elections is only an attempt to create a problem which simply does not exist by the EC to create a fertile grounds to go ahead to needlessly and intentionally wantonly dissipate a whopping GHS 444 million  of the taxpayers’ money just for the sake it.

ChaLoG has therefore taken the necessary steps to invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to either annul the 2019 District Level Elections or place an injunction on the EC not to go ahead with the compilation of a New Biometric Voters Register.

This decision has been occasioned by the pronouncement of the EC by serving notice of compiling the New Biometric Voters Register for the 2020 General Elections less than two (2) weeks heading to the 2019 District Level Elections.

In the honest view of ChaLoG, District Level Elections are as equally important as the 2020 General Elections and the EC cannot purport to use a ‘defective’ BVR and BVDs to conduct the DLE which was conducted in the 28,921 Polling Stations same as would be used in the upcoming General Elections on 7th December.

Signed
Dr. Richard Fiadomor    –    President
Hon Romeo Elikplim Akahoho  –   Executive Secretary
Hon Alhaji Ibrahim F. Faila  –  Public Relations Officer
Ing. Joshua Quist  –  Director of Research

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