I told you to go to court – Ben Ephson to NDC over new voters’ register

Pollster and Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson, has asserted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) could have directed their efforts into helping members acquire the Ghana card or passport instead of demonstrating against the compilation of the new voters’ register.

In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he reasoned that demonstrations will never change what the Electoral Commission (EC) has planned to do.

“If in 2016, demonstrations did not change what Charlotte Osei and the EC wanted to do, what makes the NDC think that their demonstration will change what Jean Mensa and the EC want to do. The earlier they come to terms with it, the better. If you will recall, in January, I gave them the same advice I gave to NPP’s IPAC in 2016. The president is very powerful per our constitution. But even that, people can go to court and challenge his powers. How much more EC which also derives its powers from the constitution?”, he said.

He added that “four months down the line, the money used for demonstrations could have been used for example to help people who do not have Ghana card or passport”.

He opined that the NDC had delayed in seeking the court’s ruling on the compilation of the new voters’ register.

“The NDC has now gone to court after over four months. If you knew you would go to the court why did you keep so long? Let the court decide. The Supreme Court can decide if the EC has convinced them or not”, he added. Earlier, this year, the Inter-Party Resistance against the New Voter’s Register, spearheaded by the National Democratic Congress, embarked on several demonstrations to express their displeasure about the EC’s decision to compile a new voters’ register ahead of the December 2020 general elections.