Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, a former chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), has criticised the commission for its decision to abandon the guarantor system for the ongoing voter registration process.
He claimed in a statement sent exclusively to the Daily Graphic that the EC's argument that the guarantor system was ineffective and the Ghana Card should be the exclusive method of registration was unpersuasive.
Dr. Afari-Gyan claims that since the National Identification Authority (NIA) permitted the guarantor regime throughout the registration process for the Ghana Card, there was nothing stopping the EC from doing the same during the voter registration process and strengthening the system as desired.
"What stops the commission from establishing a guarantor in the next constitutional instrument (CI)?"
a guarantor regime as robust as or even more robust than the one being used by the NIA for doing the Ghana Card?" he queried.
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The EC is attempting to lay a Proposal before Parliament in accordance with Article 11(7) of the 1992 Constitution to control the ongoing voter registration process.
According to the article, the CI will go into effect after 21 sitting days unless the house annuls it by a vote of not less than two-thirds of all Members of Parliament, among other things. The CI seeks to make the Ghana Card the only identification document for the exercise and the only method for registration (MPs).
Jean Adukwei Mensa, the EC's chairperson, stated to Parliament last month:
The Ghana Card would serve as the exclusive registration document, ensuring that only qualified Ghanaians registered to vote as part of the pre-laying of the CI.
A step like that, she claimed, would offer the nation a reliable voter list and improve its electoral system.
The head of the EC claimed that because the guarantor mechanism was open to abuse and compromised the validity of the electoral roll, her organisation abandoned it.
The guarantor system has the drawbacks of allowing registered voters or guarantor contractors to guarantee or vouch for those who are under the age of 18, as well as allowing guarantors to do so for foreigners. Such unqualified individuals attempted to enter the register through the guarantor system door.
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