The Electoral Commission is confident that the use of the Ghana Card as the sole identity document in future elections will eliminate conflicts such as those witnessed during the recent voter transfer.
The exercise saw several bouts of chaos and violence, notably in Weija, where the son of Awut Senya East Member of Parliament Mavis Hawa Koomson was injured.
Chairperson of the committee, Jean Mensa, speaking to media after meeting with civil society organisations, said she hopes Parliament will realise the need to pass a bill making the Ghana Card the sole requirement for registering to vote.The committee has engaged over 50 civil society organisations to ensure peaceful polling in the upcoming general elections.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Chairperson of the committee, Jean Mensa, expressed satisfaction with the information provided by the CSOs but also stressed the need for Parliament to realise that the use of the Ghana Card must be the sole requirement in future elections to avoid conflicts recorded in the just concluded vote transfer exercise.
“As I said, we have just completed the transfer of polling stations, which also went very well. There was some disturbance and clashes in some centres. Thankfully, no fatalities. The clashes over the surety scheme will see rival parties coming to train stations, taking people to train stations in buses and coming on the surety scheme to challenge the rival parties, and we want to stop that.”
“We hope that in future Parliament will agree to the Commission’s proposal to make the Ghana Card the sole identity document, but that will be after 2024.”
Albert Kofi Alhin, national coordinator for the Coalition of National Election Observers (CODEO), called on the electoral commission to step up its peace promotion efforts ahead of the elections, citing growing tension and despair among the population.
“If the Election Commission is now opening its doors to everyone, especially civil society, then we will need to communicate this fact with the Election Commission and educate people. We feel that we have to be very careful this year because of the nature of the election.”
“Tensions are very high, the country’s economic situation is unstable at times and people are in despair, so we need to educate people about peace.”
Meanwhile, the issue of journalists’ involvement in IPAC meetings was raised to ensure reliable transfer of information held among stakeholders.