body-container-line-1
30.08.2015 Opinion

Names Of Togolese On The Voters’ Register Of Ghana Is A Claim Of Nothingness

By Dr. Kofi V. Anani
Names Of Togolese On The Voters Register Of Ghana Is A Claim Of Nothingness
30.08.2015 LISTEN

The claim that names of over 76, 000 Togolese are found in the voters’ register of Ghana particularly in the Volta Region and (which should be considered as a “smoking gun” for the justification to discard and replace the entire electoral register with a new one) seems to be devoid of the realities of life on the ground. From this angle, the claim is spurious at best, if not devious and deceitful in intent and purpose.

Three important reasons grounded in the factual realities of life, history, co-existence and subsistence make this claim as repugnant as it is: (a) the issue of population and border overhang, (b) the gravity of economics and livelihoods, and (c) the constitutional provisions on the rights of dual citizens to register and vote.

The issue of population and border overhang

The issue of population and border overhang is an entrenched legacy of colonialism which has shaped and continues to influence the realities of life, co-existence, and survival in terms of how people make a living in their homes and communities particularly in border areas across Africa of which Ghana is no exception. Population overhang refers to the specter of people of the same heritage - ethnic and cultural backgrounds living across borders of two sovereign countries. These people speak the same language, move freely across the frontiers of the two countries, and have siblings and relations who reside at both sides of the borders. They engage jointly in all activities of community life – births and birthdays’ celebrations, marriage, religious worship and related ceremonies, deaths and funerals, festivals etc.

In the case of the Volta Region of Ghana and several parts of Togo, the people are largely first and foremost Ewes, and in terms of citizenship, some are solely Ghanaians, some are solely Togolese, and for many who choose to do so, they are both Ghanaians and Togolese at the same time as the constitution of Ghana provides for the existential privilege of dual citizenship. Thus for the people of Aflao, Denu, Keta, Dzodze, Sogakofe, Ho, Hohoe, Kpandu, and many other towns and villages beyond, border crossings and interactions with Togo are fluid and seamless, and many individuals, families, groups, and communities have siblings and relations residing across the borders in both countries. A countless number also are dual citizens with the right to register and vote in both countries.

These situation of dual citizenry existence is not only peculiar or unique to the people of the Volta Region of Ghana but pertains in all borderlands across Africa. Variants and parallels exist among peoples of Akan origin and heritage in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana and the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire. This is the reality of life and existence grounded in historical facts and experience of the continent. And so any claim in national political discourse which attempts to ignore and mar such a grounded reality of life and existence would be ahistorical and bereft of intellectual honesty and responsibility.

Let me further illustrate this fact of life with an anecdote. I was born and bred in Kpandu in the Volta Region. I have ten siblings who were all born in the same home and community. For over fifty years of my existence, three of my older siblings virtually lived their lives in Lome, Togo. While resident there, they regularly crisscross both countries to visit and participate in all important occasions of family and community life. And those of us who live in Ghana also visit them at their residential abodes regularly.

In fact, when one of them had to be ordained as a nun after completing her devotional training in Togo, the ordination services were held both in Togo and Ghana; when she celebrated her 25 years of ordination and service to God, the ceremonies had to be held in both Togo and Ghana. Similarly, this past July 2015 when she celebrated her 50 years of service, the ceremony was held in Togo and another one planned to take place in Ghana in September 2015. All these are done because of the recognition of her dual citizenship and heritage cutting across borders and two sovereign countries. Such a person is, without a shred of doubt, legitimately a citizen of both Ghana and Togo with a right of enfranchisement, and if she chooses to exercise this right will register and vote as appropriate and applicable.

The possibility of finding the name, picture and any related biometric information of such a person and many others with similar existential heritage, background and residential traits on the voters’ register of Ghana and Togo are very high, and which is legitimate and not fraudulent as the claimants may want the Ghanaian populace to imbibe and believe. Therefore any contestation of this fact of life and existence in the contrary will be unlawful, discriminatory and unconstitutional and should merit strong resistance, challenge and rebuttal.

The Gravity of Economics and Livelihoods

Not all borderlands are adjoined by capital cities but this is the case of the Volta Region. Maintaining ties with relations across the border is further pushed and pulled by trade economics and associated income generating activities. In fact, “Asigame” (literally big market) in Lome Togo is the centerpiece of livelihood opportunities and activities for communities, villages and towns straddling the borders of Ghana and Togo.

For the bulk of residents, rising up early in the morning and spending the entire workday across the border, and only crossing back in the evening is a daily routine of life. These people gravitate to Lome and its environs with bustling markets to eke out a living and put bread on the table. For those with dual citizenship, it is natural and rationale that they will stream in and out to participate and fulfil civic responsibilities across the borders regardless of where they reside.

During periods of registration to compile the voters’ register, such people will by their own volition or be identified, enticed and encouraged proactively by political party representatives to register in order to be eligible to exercise their rights of enfranchisement conferred by the legitimate privilege of being dual citizens. That, in a word, is essentially a pivotal act of party membership registration drive strategy. In the same vein, during periods of voting, the same political party membership strategy drive will ensure that those who have registered but reside across the border would be provided the means to cross over and vote. This is also a reality of life in the political and constitutional dispensation related to the rights of existence and residence in borderlands across Africa and Ghana is no exception.

This is a fact of life the replacement of the current electoral register with a new one will never change. Some people of Volta Region and elsewhere with dual citizenship will surely find their names on the voters’ registers of both Ghana and Togo if they choose to be included, and there is nothing untoward about this inalienable act. The fact that someone crosses the border to register and vote with valid certification document does not mean the person is alien and illegal.

Constitutional provisions on the right of dual citizens to register and vote

The Ghana Citizenship Act 2000 Section 16 (2) affirmatively allows people with dual citizenship the right to register and vote. So people of the Volta Region with both Ghanaian and Togolese Ewe heritage and citizenship are not prohibited by law to register and vote. This is an indelible fact. In this regard, if a comparative analysis is made of the voters’ registers of both Ghana and Togo and there is evidence of overlapping names in either register, this should not cause an alarm and be considered a “smoking gun” for a call to replace the entire electoral register of the country.

As it is, the intent and purpose of positing a claim of this nature on such a thread of evidence could be construed as an attempt to inflame passion and emotions of a support base for political gain, misinformation or mischief.

This is even more so when the administrative requirement of dual citizens to apply and secure dual citizenship card has been rendered null and void in a judicial ruling by the Supreme Court as “discriminatory, unreasonable, and burdensome,” with no legitimate purpose and thus contravening the spirit and letter of Articles 15 (1) and 17 of the 1992 Constitution. (Reference is made to the case of Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare v the Attorney General, cited in Samson Lardy, Can Dual Citizens Vote in Ghanaian Elections?, Myjoyonline, August 28, 2015).

By this judicial ruling and aforementioned constitutional provisions, the people of Volta Region and others elsewhere with dual citizenship need not produce any documentary evidence of their dual citizenship status as such but are hereby entitled the right to register and vote. So what is the point if their names and biometric information are found in both the Ghanaian and Togolese registers? Given the source of the claim, it certainly smacks of intellectual dishonesty and irresponsibility.

If this is the main basis for the call to replace the existing register with a new one, then the claim should be summarily dismissed by the Electoral Commission (EC) with the contempt it deserves. There may be some rightful compelling reasons beyond this claim and if so, the advocates and propagators are yet to present them to the public. At the moment it seems disingenuous so far as the claim is borne out of nothingness and not solid and concrete enough to be the foundation for justifying the replacement of the entire electoral register with a new one.

What is even puzzling and worrisome to many observers is that the parliamentary representatives and leaders of the people of the Volta Region are yet to come out with any cogent, logical and rational rebuttal of such claims. Some of us from the region are expecting more from our elected representatives and leaders on this front. We expect them not to sit or stand still while the image of the region is tarnished with such spurious ahistorical claim not grounded in the reality of life and constitutional provisions of the country.

The writer is an International Development Expert who can be reached at [email protected]

body-container-line