The Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for election 2024, John Dramani Mahama, wants stakeholders in the electioneering process to be permitted to monitor operations of the National Identification Authority (NIA).
He believes this would ensure checks and balances to avoid fraud and exploitation of the system, especially at a time when proposals are rife for the Ghana Card to be used as the sole identification document in general elections.
Mr Mahama was speaking at a workshop for the minority caucus in parliament at the Volta Serene Hotel in the Volta Regional capital, Ho.
"We demand that the process must necessarily include a system that enables all political parties and relevant stakeholders to possess the capacity to monitor to avoid fraud and exploitation to the undue advantage of any of the political stakeholders”, he said.
He reiterated the NDC’s objection to the proposed use of the Ghana Card in the upcoming general election, indicating the NIA is not ready to shoulder such a huge responsibility.
The former president explained that not everyone has been registered by the Authority, while a substantive number of the cards issued were not given to applicants across the country.
“The Ghana card is a relatively new feature of our national life and its merit in the scheme of things. At the moment, it is being blemished more as a political tool around in all manners fashioned towards elections.
There is a need to allow sufficient time for its full integration into our way of life before this kind of doubtful excuses of all other legitimately acquired credible and time-tested forms of identification are implemented."
Until full and nearly total coverage is achieved in the rollout of the Ghana Card, room must be made for those who are yet to be served to exercise their democratic right of voting. They cannot be excused from the voter's register due to no fault of theirs”, Mr Mahama argued.
Credit: Fred Quame Asare