Using only EC offices for registration would disenfranchise my constituents - Hon. Betty

Hon. Betty Krosby Mensah (MP - Kwahu Afram Plains North) has indicated that, the decision by the Electoral Commission (E.C) to use only it’s District/Metropolitan/Municipal offices for the forthcoming voter registration would go a long way to disenfranchise qualified individuals within the Kwahu Afram Plains North Constituency.

Speaking at a Press Briefing on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 on the theme: Afram Plains Confronts EC’s Voter Registration Modalities, she indicated that, the decision would go a long way to cause financial burden on her constituents.

Out of the 31 electoral areas and 127 polling stations in the Kwahu Afram Plains North, 13 electoral areas and 54 polling stations are located on various islands.

Hon. Betty further indicated that, the EC’s decision is an intentional one, aimed at disenfranchising her constituents, considering the fact that, election materials for the previous elections were distributed to these areas using helicopters, an indication that, the EC is aware of the challenges the people within these areas face, yet neglecting their plight.

She however, urged that, if it’s for lack of human and logistical resources, the EC should go to Parliament and make justification for resources, a course she (Hon. Betty) would wholeheartedly support.

Hon. Betty therefore called on the Electoral Commission, through it’s chairperson, Jean Mensah to as a matter of urgency review the registration modalities for the Afram Plains North, in consultation with the District Inter-Party Committee, by creating registration centers on all islands to facilitate the process of registering new voters.

Concerned citizens, NDC party lovers, friends of Hon. Betty, Constituency and Branch executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and some other Assembly Members were present at the press briefing.

FULL STATEMENT

STATEMENT BY HON. BETTY NANA EFUA KROSBI MENSAH, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE AFRAM PLAINS NORTH CONSTITUENCY ON THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE VOTER’S REGISTRATION MODALITIES ANNOUNCED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION DELIVERED AT A PRESS CONFERENCE AT DONKORKROM ON 23RD AUGUST, 2023

My beloved constituents of Afram Plains North Constituency;

Friends from the media;

Ladies and Gentlemen

1.0 Introduction

I invite you here as your Member of Parliament to raise very important issues that affect many of us, our brothers and sisters directly and above all our democracy as a nation.

On Thursday 17th August, 2023, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensa, addressed a press conference in Accra where she announced the dates for the upcoming Voter’s Registration Exercise. As you may have heard, the EC chair announced that the voter’s Registration exercise will commence on 12th September, 2023 and end on 2nd October, 2023.

She however added that only the District Offices of the Electoral Commission have been designated as registration centers for the purposes of the upcoming registration.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the registration exercise announced by the Electoral Commission is important because the Commission since its last registration exercise in 2020 has not registered eligible voters who turned 18 years for the past three years. With the upcoming District Level Elections, this registration exercise will afford them the opportunity to exercise their franchise.

Much as this is good news to many eligible voters in our constituency, I have since received numerous complaints about the modalities for the registration which we wish to bring to the attention of the General Public and the Electoral Commission to put in place adequate measures to facilitate the smooth registration process to ensure that eligible persons are not disenfranchised.

2.0 The right to vote and the duty of the Electoral Commission

Ladies and Gentlemen, as a democratic state, the right to vote is so fundamental that no impediments must be allowed to deny eligible persons the enjoyment of this sacred right.
As you are aware, the 1992 Constitution in Article 42 provides that:

“Every citizen of Ghana of eighteen years of age and above and of sound mind has the right to vote and is ENTITLED to be registered as a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda”.

So important is this right of registration as a voter that the enjoyment of certain opportunities is subject to the activation of this right. The framers of our constitution make voter registration a prerequisite for the enjoyment of some opportunities. For instance, one cannot be a Member of Parliament or a minister of state unless that person is a registered voter. This is how important voter registration is!

It is for this reason that the Constitution in articles 45 (a) and (e) enjoins the Electoral Commission to compile a register of voters and undertake programmes for the expansion of the registration of voters.

It is my considered view that, in the execution of this important mandate imposed on the Electoral Commission, it must do so in the light of the spirit and letter of the constitution by advancing the objectives and democratic principles espoused by the constitution. In effect, the Electoral Commission should not and must not exercise its powers conferred on it by the constitution in a manner arbitrary to the constitution as to deny citizens the right to register and vote through administrative action or inaction.

We in the Afram Plains Constituency are concerned that if the Electoral Commission proceeds with its plan to use only the District Office as the registration center, it will be a disincentive that will indirectly disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters across many communities in the constituency.

3.0 The nature of the Afram Plains Constituency

The Afram Plains North Constituency which has the same geographical configuration as the Kwahu Afram Plains North District of the Eastern Region has the largest land mass in the Eastern Region with 2,341.3 square kilometers.

In all, there are over 575 communities in the constituency of which 222 are located on the Volta Lake. The constituency has 31 electoral areas and 127 polling stations. Out of this number, 13 electoral areas and 54 polling stations are located on various islands.

Given the nature of the constituency, the only reliable means of transport are boats, canoes, and ferries. To access the district capital, constituents have to travel several kilometers on water and commute by road to Donkorkrom. Constituents who live on Agordeke (Digya Island) for instance have to travel by boat for about 8-10 hours to get to the river bank at Supom (Bridge Ano) and then continue for over 25kilometer distance by road to the District Capital (Donkorkrom). It will surprise you that the cost involved is as follows: Boat=80; Abotoaso-Kpando=35; Kpando-Torkor=8; Ferry=12; River bank-Donkorkrom=20. Total for in and out = GHC310.00

4.0 Effects of the EC’s Voter Registration Modalities

There are practical implications for this limited voter registration exercise if the EC proceeds with its current arrangements.

1. Eligible voters particularly women and young people who desire to enjoy their Article 42 rights will have to travel several kilometers by water and road to Donkorkrom.

2. For those who cannot make the journey in a day, they have to make arrangements for accommodation and leave only after they have been able to register. This is unpredictable since people will be traveling from all communities across the constituency to register not forgetting that people who do not possess the Ghana card will have to arrange and possibly travel with two guarantors to help them register.

3. The above also implies that eligible registrants will have to abandon school, work, and other economic activities for the days that they will be trying to register.

4. It will also come at a great cost to eligible constituents since they have to bear the cost of transportation, accommodation amidst heavy rain falls, and frequent accidents on the lake.
I believe that the EC by its current decision is denying persons who otherwise are eligible to register the opportunity to do so.

As a Member of Parliament, it is my considered view that the constitutional mandate given to the EC must be exercised in a fair and reasonable manner as to facilitate and not frustrate citizens’ right to vote. In this vein, the Electoral Commission, in the execution of its mandate ought to have a reasonable contemplation of the peculiar challenges of constituencies such as AFRAM PLAINS in the upcoming voter registration exercise and not apply a one-size-fits-all in its approach.

What is more surprising is that the EC in previous elections used helicopters to distribute election materials in these hard-to-reach island communities in the constituency. The Commission is therefore fully aware of the challenges and how citizens will be adversely affected if the registration is carried out in the manner that the Commission has proposed.

However, if for any reason the Commission is constrained by lack of human and logistical resources, the proper thing to do is to come to Parliament and make a justification for resources to do its work. I will be the first MP to advocate that the Commission should be provided with the needed resources to perform its constitutional mandate.

5.0 Conclusion

Given the above challenges associated with the EC’s modalities for the registration, I wish to, on behalf of the people of Afram Plains North, who I proudly represent in Parliament, appeal to the Electoral Commission through its chairperson, Jean Mensa to as a matter of urgency review the registration modalities for Afram Plains North, in consultation with the District Inter-Party Committee, by creating registration centers on all islands to facilitate the registration of voters.

The deployment of mobile voter registration units as done by the Commission in 2020 is another option available to the Commission to consider.

THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME