Member of Parliament for Tamale North Constituency Alhaji Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini says the entrenched position taken by the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) over the new voter management system could plunge the country into chaos.
He said the current Chair, Jean Mensa, seems to have taken a consistent position over the issues, which also came up in the run-up to the 2012 elections.
Speaking on TV3’s New Day on Tuesday, January 14, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP expressed shock at the current position of Mrs Mensa vis-à-vis her position in the past.
The Commission is set to get a new voter management system at the cost of $6 million, a move that has divided the country’s political parties.
The system will see the compilation of a new register.
While some like the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are in support of the move, others led by the NDC are against it.
Already, the largest opposition party has planned major protests across the country to stop the EC from prosecuting its move.
The Tamale North MP said when the issue came up in 2012, Mrs Mensa, then Executive Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), called on the EC to give a listening ear to the demands of political parties among which was the NPP.
He said when the NPP again took a position for a new register, Mrs Mensa years later is siding with that party.
“The only thing that seems consistent is her position with the New Patriotic Party,” he said, insinuating the Chair of the Commission is doing the bidding of the ruling party.
According to him, political parties against the new voter management system only want an explanation why the EC is opting for a change, saying the timing does not favour such a move.
“All what the political parties that are against the voters’ register want is to convince us why it is imperative for us to have a new voters’ register.”
Alhaji Suhuyini said the EC may have a hidden agenda to rig the elections for the ruling party as the latter’s grand agenda of removing the former chair, Charlotte Osei, appear to be working out.
But Sekondi MP Andrew Egyapa Mercer said NDC is deliberately stoking tension with their stance and this is as a result of a message by Afriyie Ankrah, the party’s Director of Elections.
“The only tension that is emanating from this is Afriyie Ankrah’s tape,” he told host Winston Amoah.
He said the EC must be allowed to do its work.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana