NDC, beware of EC in election 2024

The current Electoral Commission of Ghana is running an administration that I termed "Constitutional Authoritarianism." I will simplify the term, and lay bare its complexity to allow for easy digestion.

Firstly I used the word "constitutional" because the establishment of the Electoral Commission of Ghana is based on the constitution. According to the Black's Law Dictionary, "a constitution is the fundamental and organic laws of a nation or state that establish institutions and apparatus of government...."

Clearly, article 43 and article 45 of the 1992 constitution stipulate the establishment and functions of the Electoral Commission (EC). Also, there is a Constitutional Instrument (C.I) that underpins the activities of the EC including a continuous compilation of voters' registers without any external impediment.

Secondly, I used "authoritarianism" because the Oxford dictionary defines authoritarianism as a "lack of concern for the wishes or opinion of others." This without any ambiguity is the status quo of the current electoral commission.

Before the commencement of the 2020 voters' registration process, clause 9(2) of C.I. 91 indicated that "the commission shall in consultation with registered political parties determine the modalities for the continuous registration of voters."

On the contrary, the EC threw away the consensus of all political parties on the grounds of C.I. 91 to permit citizens to present their passport, previous voter ID, NHIS card, and driver's License to serve as a legal document to allow people to be registered. As a matter of fact, 80% of the citizens bought into this notion yet this majority view was totally discounted by the EC.

Instead, the EC substituted C. I. 91 with C.I. 126 with the help of NPP majority members of Parliament to subvert the will of the good people of Ghana. The new amended C. I. 126 permitted only the National Identification Card (Ghana Card), passport, and registered Ghanaians to serve as witnesses in order to allow a person without all the required documents to be registered into the voter register.

This was undemocratic and complete subordination of the will and opinions of the masses; to the preferences of a particular political party (NPP). This development in my view put at risk Ghana’s stable democracy and stability.

This is the basis for the term I used to show that while the EC is a creation of the constitution, it has used the same institutional structures created by the constitution, the Parliamentary Majority, and the Executive Government power to ignore the will of the people. In the light of the above evidence, I say without any fear of contradiction that the current EC does not use democratic apparatus in performing its functions but rather uses what I call "Constitutional Authoritarianism."

In conclusion, the hierarchical structure of the NDC must take a very good note of my observation and develop measures to effectively deal with the Triple Danger - a combination of a biased EC, parliament majority and Executive power. This is a looming danger in the upcoming 2024 elections that must be watched. Agenda of the EC and the NPP in election 2024.

There are speculations that only the National Identification Card (Ghana Card) shall be the required document for a person to get into the voter register 2024. If I am given the opportunity to make suggestions to the NDC party, I would suggest to the party superiors to empower all party members and encourage all the citizens to register for their Ghana Card.

If vice president Dr. Bawumia can value Ghana cards over 1000 interchange, then he knows the interpretation of his statement. The NDC stands a great chance of winning the election in 2024 but must also bear in mind that elections can be won by fair or foul means. The NDC may protest the EC when the time arises but should not channel all efforts and resources into the protesting mode of voter registration as was the case in 2020. Whilst the NDC protest, the party should participate simultaneously to be on the safer side.

What I realized in the previous registration for election 2020 was that, the NDC spent much time objecting to the EC proposals without encouraging members to partake in the registration exercise. This really caused a lot of harm to the party, especially in major NDC strongholds. In addition, I would suggest that, even if the NDC may attempt to challenge the EC if the rumors are true, there should be a set of delegations that will be helping people to get their Ghana cards.

We should expect the unexpected from the EC because they have constitutional backings and operate in an undemocratic manner. This is the EC clothed in the constitution but operates in an authoritarian manner- EC is indeed operating in a CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITARIANISM