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22.01.2015 NPP

NPP-USA Wades Into Bloated Register

By Daily Guide
NPP-USA Wades Into Bloated Register
22.01.2015 LISTEN

New Patriotic Party branch in the United States (NPP-USA) has been compiling statistical data of what it claims is the proof that Ghana's current voter register is bloated.

They have therefore urged all stakeholders to mount pressure on the Electoral Commission (EC) to reform the electoral system with the preparation of a new register as a major step in the process.

The NPP electoral reforms committee, headed by the   party's vice presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, recently submitted its report to the party's  Steering Committee at its recent meeting in Accra.

Accurate Register
According to the NPP-USA, 'An accurate voter register cannot capture more than 46.4% or roughly, 12.673 million voters of the projected population of just over 27 million,' as Ghana is currently witnessing.

Statistics For 2016
The USA branch of the party claimed that per its projections, Ghana's population is expected to hit 27.315 million by the end of 2015 emphasizing, 'In post-oil production Ghana, the foreigner presence in the country is even higher than pre-oil production Ghana of 2010.'

It continued, 'Consistent with typical population growth, Ghana is aging a little, compared to the 2010 population distribution. Notice that the 15 to 19 category has now been split into two with one being the 15 to 17 group and the other being the 18 and 19 group.'

The NPP said, 'This was done by taking the 15 to   19-year category and splitting it into five with three portions being the 15 to 17, and the remaining two portions representing the 18 and 19-year-olds.'

It said Ghana has 43.6% of the population below the voting age of 18 years and another five percent or so,  were foreign adults not eligible to register to vote.

'Another five percent or thereabout, represent a large group including those too sick to register, who simply don't care, who could not make time to register, prisoners, etc.,' it averred.

Age Distribution
According to the NPP-USA, 'This is the age distribution of Ghana's 2010 population of 24.391 million; this number includes all persons domiciled in Ghana as at 2010, regardless of citizenship.'

The party in the Diaspora added, 'Although the elections were held in 2012, the voter register was compiled at a time when this was the population distribution.'

'Take the 15 to 19-year category and split it into five with three portions being the 15 to 17, and the remaining two portions representing the 18 and 19 year-olds. Add the 15 to 17 year-olds to the category below the voting age. That gives you 44.8 percent of the population under the voting age. The remaining 55.2 percent still includes all foreign adults in the country who obviously cannot register to vote.

'Typically, this segment represents roughly five percent in most countries, but should be higher in Ghana, considering the volume of refugees and a higher-than-average diplomatic corps due to Ghana's stability,' NPP-USA submitted and queried, 'So how did the EC manage to have a voter register comprising 56.2 percent of the population?'

Heated Debate
The issue of whether or not the voter register used in the 2012 general elections was bloated has generated heated debate.

Addressing party supporters in the United Kingdom recently, NPP flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, said the party had set up an electoral reform committee to work with the EC to clean the register so as to avert the anomalies that marred the 2012 elections.

He said, 'The present voter register that we have in Ghana is bloated and anomalous and there is an urgent need to make sure we get a new voter register before the next elections.'

However, the EC, through its director of Public Affairs, Christian Owusu-Parry, has variously insisted the register is not bloated.

'No, we disagree with any assertion that the register as we have at the moment is bloated. The register is not in any way bloated,' Owusu Parry told an Accra-based radio station on December 29, last year.

He added, 'If anybody suggests that the register as we have it is bloated, then I am surprised because it is not supported by the statistical figures that we have.'

By William Yaw Owusu

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