What’s good for Togo, good for Ghana – Nana Addo tells Mahama

Leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has persuaded President John Dramani Mahama to call for a credible voters register in Ghana just as he did prior to Togo’s presidential elections.

President Mahama in March after a petition by opposition parties in Togo called for a 10-day delay in presidential elections in the Francophone country to iron out concerns over the voters register.

Originally scheduled to come off on April 15, the elections were held on April 25 with President Faure Gnassingbe being reelected.

At a meeting with journalists to make a call for a new voters register for Ghana on Tuesday, Nana Addo said a similar intervention is expected of the president in order for all to accept results of future elections in Ghana - next year’s in particular - given the reaction that greeted the 2012 presidential results.

“The peaceful acceptance of the election results by stakeholders in Togo is indicative of how appropriate [President Mahama’s] intervention was.

“Clearly, what is good for Togo must be good for Ghana.”

Nana Addo’s running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, outlined some of the flaws in the current register, revealing that over 70,000 names of foreign nationals were recorded.

A petition has, therefore, been sent by Dr Bawumia and General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong, on behalf of the NPP, to the Electoral Commissioner, Charlotte Osei.

“The message we took to her can be summed up in a few words: Ghana needs a new, credible voters register that must be compiled in time for the 2016 general elections,” Nana Addo remarked.