In order for the National Identification Authority (NIA) to fulfill its mandate of ensuring that all eligible Ghanaians possess the National Identification Card, also known as the Ghana Card, Political Parties Outside Parliament (PPOP), a coalition of parties without representation in the legislature, has urged the government to release funds to the NIA.
They said that by doing this, it would be easier to use the Ghana Card as the only form of identity for the country's ongoing voter registration.
PPOP
During a news conference yesterday in Accra to discuss the Electoral Commission's (EC) proposed Constitutional Instrument (CI) that would make the Ghana Card the only document for ongoing voter registration, the parties made the appeal.
The Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the National Democratic Party (NDP), the People's National Convention (PNC), and the All People's Congress are the political parties that make up the PPOP (APC).
In addition, Citizen Ato Dadzie, the General Secretary of the GCPP, who delivered the statement on behalf of the parties, urged Parliament to ensure that the new C.I. was put in place to help safeguard the authenticity and integrity of the voters' register and lessen the turmoil at registration centers.
He said that the new C.I. will help solve the problem of foreigners and minors getting added to the electoral roll by making the Ghana Card the only acceptable form of identification for potential voters.
He said that a nation cannot be genuinely democratic unless its residents, not outsiders, are given the chance to pick their representatives in free and fair elections.
Modalities are established for each election to provide a fair playing field and to set the stage for transparent, reputable procedures that will produce results that stakeholders will accept. We even conduct internal political party elections in this manner, according to Mr. Dadzie.
consensus formation
Talks for a new C.I. to make the Ghana Card the only form of identity accepted for voter registration began, according to Mr. Dadzie, in October 2021, with participation from all stakeholders, including political parties and civil society organizations.
He said that after over a year of discussions and meetings, it was decided to accept the Ghana Card as proof of identification for anyone applying to register as a voter.
As the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was not invited to the series of meetings to discuss the proposed C.I., he denounced as false claims made in a news conference by the Minority Caucus in Parliament.
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