Dear Mrs. Mensah,
I would like to enquire from you as the Electoral Commissioner (EC) of the Republic of Ghana, if a fraudulent voters register was used to conduct the just ended 2019 district assembly elections and the referendum for the creation of the new regions. If YES, how could the elections be credible and successful as you described in your closing remarks? If NO, why do you need to change such a dependable register before a similar successful exercise can be managed in the upcoming 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections? Concerning the regional compilation objections, please can’t you just change the regional names of the districts that fall under the new regions?
Again, I would like to know if you inherited a credible register from your predecessor, Mrs Charlotte Osei? If YES, what have you done so far to make the register useless? If NO, why did you use it to conduct the district assembly elections and the referendum for the creation of the new regions under your supervision? Why did you describe the referendum and the election conducted with the untrustworthy register as credible and successful? Can we use a fake register to conduct credible elections? Please, what are the changes made to the 2016 and 2019 register to warrant a compilation of a new one, as suggested? Who caused the questionable authenticity of the credible register you inherited and under whose supervision as the EC did it happen?
Madam, I am asking these questions in response to the EC’s recent comment on the existing voters register in a publication dated Thursday April 16, 2020 that “only a new voters register can ensure a credible 2020 elections”. I have been following most of the arguments from both the incumbent and opposition parties and this is the appropriate opportunity for me to ask questions on the rationale behind the proposed new voters register. Please find the publication reference below:
I have deliberated on this publication severally and I find it extremely difficult to understand the logic behind your reasoning. Your posture on the compilation of the proposed new voters register doesn’t make any sense. In fact, I must say your argument is vague, baseless and without any rational clue to support your unnecessary squabbles. Until you justify with a valid and acceptable evidence that the current voters register is compromised after the 2019 district assembly elections, stop the infantile rantings and consider using it for the next elections. The nation cannot afford to waste money on a new register for no tangible reason. It is highly unacceptable.
Before this preposterous publication, did you think through to realize that your argument was telling Ghanaians that President Akufo Addo, the parliamentarians and the current assemblymen were elected with a fake register? Furthermore, have you thought that the new regions were illegitimately created under your superintendence, considering this irresponsible comment from your office?
The good people of Ghana, both home and abroad will be happy to get answers to these questions, as we are looking forward to witnessing a free, fair and transparent general elections once again. Until you provide the answers, I write to caution your team that Ghanaians are open-eyed and hence, any attempt to rig the upcoming elections will not be countenanced. We will not sit unconcerned for you to plunge the country into a state of pandemonium.
Please reconsider your staunch decision in the collective interest of the nation. Your attitude towards Ghanaians, concerning your clear independence and unflinching support for the NPP party’s effort to compile a fraudulent voters register is nauseating. We all recall that the Majority Leader and NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame, Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu emphatically stated that NPP can only win the upcoming elections, if a new register is compiled.
I have monitored you from afar and I am sounding a strong warning to your team that any attempt to be partial to favour a particular political party will not be accepted and the repercussions involved will be dangerous. Nobody can stop the Ghanaian youth from demanding justice into our electoral system, if rigging occurs. A word to the wise is enough. God bless our homeland Ghana!
Solomon K. A. Owusu
Denver, Colorado, USA
