Calling the Electoral Commission to order

 
Calling the Electoral Commission to order
Even before we go to the polls, the source for potential conflict is rearing its ugly head. Unfortunately, not many institutions of state, established to prevent conflicts in society, appear to have even taken note of the Electoral Commission's decision not to comply with the directive by the Supreme Court, the highest court of jurisdiction in this land of our birth, to delete the names of all those who registered with National Health Insurance Service identity cards from the list of registered voters.

The Chronicle is not amused by the cemetery silence that has so far greeted the statement from Mrs. Charlotte Osei's outfit that the commission would be unable to remove those names from the bloated register.

Like most things Ghanaian, the commission's response to the ruling has polarised this nation along the usual National Democratic Congress versus New Patriotic Party divide.

The pro-NDC group argues that there could be no mechanism to delete those names, and that removal would disenfranchise a large segment of the population. What is even more worrying is the assertion by the commission that at the time the NHIS card bearers registered, there was no law barring them from the exercise.

The other group in this nation's political divide contends that the Supreme Court has spoken, and until the order is reversed, the Electoral Commission has to obey.

It is good that the original petitioners have decided to go back to the Supreme Court for interpretation of the ruling. The Chronicle would like to urge Mr. Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako, the petitioners, to head back to the highest court of the land for interpretation.

The Chronicle is disappointed though, in the kind of interpretation the commission, led by a woman who is supposed to understand the law, is giving to the ruling. According to the Electoral Commission, “such a position, according to the Supreme Court, would have the effect of disenfranchising the persons affected. Such registration should only be deleted by means of processes established under the law.”

We beg to differ. The implementation of the Supreme Court decision would not disenfranchise anybody. In its own wisdom, the Supreme Court offered a window of opportunity for those whose names are to be deleted from the register, because they used the now discredited NHIS cards to register, to re-register, using other accepted identity cards. It is, therefore, not true to assert that such card bearers would be disenfranchised.

By putting up such a statement, the Electoral Commission is beginning to operate outside the confines of the law of this country. The Supreme Court, the highest court of jurisdiction of the land, has taken a decision. If the reason assigned does not conform to the expectation of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, and her other six commissioners, have a right under the laws of Ghana to seek a review of the case.

Unless, and until the Supreme Court pronounces otherwise, that is the law of land.  Why the Electoral Commission is seeking to break the law, without going back to the court to reverse the decision, is a major source of conflict, which would haunt this nation all the way to the polls.

It is highly likely that any group of people, not happy with the outcome of the 2016 elections, would point to the behaviour of the Electoral Commission as a deliberate ploy to favour one group of political activists against the rest of society. We all know that conflicts spring up as a result of the feeling on the part of people that the referee, in this case the Electoral Commission, has not been seen to be fair.

We would like to believe that various agencies and individuals clamouring for peace, before, during, and after the elections, would call on the Electoral Commission to obey the laws of the land, and not do anything that could be interpreted to mean that Mrs. Charlotte Osei and her outfit have not been fair in their dealings.

The Chronicle would like to invite the National Peace Council, for instance, to interest itself in the obvious bogus interpretation the Electoral Commission is giving to the clear-cut ruling by the Supreme Court.

We cannot buy into the bunkum that the EC would not be able to remove any bogus entry in the bloated register. In the case of NHIS-registered card holders, we would like to submit that the E.C. can use the forms on which ID cards were registered to remove all bogus names.

The stakes in the November 7 elections are very high. The atmosphere is charged already for the polls. That is why the entire society would need to work hard to minimise all forms of conflicts, as we get ready for the November 7 polls.

We all have a duty to police the Electoral Commission to deliver a vote devoid of bias and acceptable to all stake-holders.