‘NHIS voters’ case pointless – PPP

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) believes the ongoing legal battle in the Supreme Court between Mr Abu Ramadan, a former National Youth Organiser of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) and one Evans Nimako on one hand and the Electoral Commission (EC) on the other hand, regarding the credibility of the register of voters, will not solve the problems of the electoral roll.

According to the party, the case will rather heighten tension in the country as this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections approach.

Last week, the EC submitted a list of 56,000 names of voters who registered using the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) upon an order from the Supreme Court to do so within six days following a return to court by Mr Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako to seek clarification of the court’s May 5 ruling, which was subjected to several interpretations by the parties involved in the matter.

The court on May 5 directed the EC to delete from the register of voters the names of the dead, minors, as well as all voters who registered using their National Health Insurance Cards as a national ID. The same court had ruled almost two years ago that the NHIS cards were invalid for voter registration.

The plaintiffs and their lawyers have contested the validity of the list, saying there needs to have been more than 56,000 of such registrants. They described the list as fake and fictitious.

However, a statement released by the National Secretary of the PPP, Murtala Mohammed, said the party “can best describe the whole incidence as ‘much ado about nothing’. Both the plaintiff’s plea and the defendant’s defence arguments will not solve the problems of the voter register and neither will it safeguard the sanctity of our election come November 7. The court case and the matters arising will rather heighten tension and breed more mistrust in the electoral processes”.

“We have also observed that the concentration of both parties is on the National Health Insurance Card (NHIS) card registrants rather than on dead persons, minors, and non-citizens, among others on the voters register which are far greater than the former in terms of numbers. Sometimes you wonder what the motivations are if what is fought for – using a lot of resources – will not provide a lasting solution to the people’s woes.

“The arguments that a new voters’ register will solve the problem of a bloated register is preposterous and puerile to say the list. We have applied this same method over the years and still end up with a bloated register. We have replaced existing voters register several times in this country but we have still not been able to achieve a clean voters’ register. This is because, a clean and credible voter register is different from a new voters register. The NDC and the NPP have mastered the art of registering minors, non-citizens and applied other dubious methods of including unqualified persons in the voters register over the years. So therefore, anytime you open up for a new voters register, they marshal their forces and once again bloat the register.

“The Progressive People’s Party believes the panacea to the problem of the Voter Register is to use the National Identification Authority to capture the data of each and every Ghanaian now and subsequently from birth. This will not only solve the problem with the voter register but will also help synchronize all data collected from different organizations such as the SSNIT, DVLA, NHIS and other biometric data in the country.

“This will save Ghana a lot of money and will help the country collect taxes from citizens who are engaged in economic activities across the country. It will also help the police and other security urgencies to conduct thorough investigations in order to combat crime in Ghana. The National Identification system, when implemented will change this country from a lawless country to a disciplined and well-structured country.

“Finally, the Progressive People’s Party will like to bring to the notice of the public that the half-baked policies implemented by the two dominant political parties over the years have left this country impoverished. We call on Ghanaians to be conscious and to “Pre Papa Preko” in order to safeguard the future of this country and that of our children.”