After all the noise and a nationwide demonstration, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was left battered and bruised as it failed to provide evidence to back its call for a forensic audit of the provisional voters register.
At a make-or-break special IPAC meeting in Accra on Tuesday, October 1, the NDC was left alone as the other opposition parties joined the ruling NPP to support the Electoral Commission’s (EC) rejection of the call for forensic audit of the provisional voters register.
The NDC led by its Director of Elections and IT, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, had insisted that the register is not fit for purpose in its present state, and therefore demanded a forensic audit to clean it ahead of the elections.
The party had organised a nationwide demonstration to press home their demand for the forensic audit although the EC had continuously insisted that the NDC has no case.
IPAC meeting
At the special IPAC meeting to deliberate on the matter, the NDC was left confused, unable to substantiate its allegation of a flawed register.
As Dr Omane Boamah struggled to substantiate their allegations , the representatives of the other parties turned the heat on the biggest opposition party, lambasting them for wasting their time with the baseless criticisms of the EC.
Remarks
In their remarks , the parties’ representatives were unanimous that the EC did its work well on the register. “I’ll walk out of the meeting today as a proud Ghanaian. Today, the electoral body has opened itself to be scrutinized and we are all satisfied with the outcome,” the representative of the GCPP said.
Mr Kofi Akpaloo, presidential candidate of the LPG, said, “We have no time to waste. The NDC is wasting our time with the call for forensic audit.”
Presidential candidate of the GFP, Akua Donkor accused the NDC of lying to tarnish the reputation of the EC. The CPP representative congratulated the EC for being a listening institution.
NPP position
The NPP Director of Elections, Evans Nimako described the proceedings as a day of shame for the NDC. “Of all the issues NDC raised, only one was proved right, which had even been dealt with long ago. The NDC have no basis to cause mayhem in this country.”
For his part, Peter Mac-Manu said, “The NDC is saying one thing and doing another, simply to garner support for an election they are destined to lose. We believe the Electoral Commission’s presentation is fair and the best legal method to handle issues with the voter register.”
EC’s submission
In her submission, the Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, stated that the NDC failed to provide any strong evidence to support their claims of discrepancies in the voter’s register. “The NDC presented five category of issues with the register. The commission demanded of the NDC to present further evidence but assured them that those issues are typical of every voters register, and it is what the exhibition exercise aim to unearth and fix it. Unfortunately, the NDC has still not presented any more evidence to the EC.”
