Ghana's electoral commission welcomes Supreme Court's order

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) said on Friday it welcomed specific directives given by the Supreme Court last Tuesday regarding those who registered as voters in 2012 using the National Health Insurance cards as evidence of their citizenship.

The Apex Court, in clarifying its earlier judgment on May 5, 2016, on the matter, asked the EC to immediately delete the names of such persons from the current voters register.

The Court further directed that these persons should thereafter be given the opportunity to re-register after establishing that they are Ghanaian citizens who are 18 years and above and are of sound mind; and enabled to take part in the 2016 general election.

The Court was very clear in stating that its order superseded the relevant provisions of the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2016 (C.I. 91).

"This essentially means the Commission is now empowered to delete such names, while ensuring that they are not disenfranchised," the EC said in a statement signed by Georgina Opoku Amankwaa, deputy chair in charge of corporate services.

It said this new development would help the EC and all stakeholders to ensure a clean and credible register ahead of the elections, adding that it was taking the appropriate steps to comply with the Court's directives and would make same public in the coming week.

The announcement next week will also outline the modalities for the exhibition of the 2016 Provisional Voters Register which is scheduled to start on July 18 at all polling centers across the country, it said.

President John Dramani Mahama will be seeking a re-election in the election and will be facing his main challenger, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is contesting the presidency for the third time on the ticket of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). Endit