Fake IDs Will Make New Voters' Register Flawed, Supreme Court Must Intervene—Dr. Sogbey

Dr. Bright Atsu Sogbey

Ghanaian Engineer and Scientist, Ing. Dr. Bright Atsu Sogbey is warning that the new voters' register to be compiled by Electoral Commission would be heavily flawed if the approved ID cards for the registration are not properly verified.

"EC's new register will be absolutely flawed if primary IDs are not either cross-checked and/or validated at the registration centres, as fake Ghana cards and passport IDs can be presented," he said in a statement.

He noted that there are many skillfully printed fake Ghana Cards and Passport IDs in the system (like the one in the picture) and they can be used at the registration centres to outwit EC officers if there is no proper verification system at the centres.

Dr. Sogbey, who is the President of Science and Technology Advocacy Renaissance for Africa (STARA), showed two Ghana Cards with different ID Numbers and registration dates but belonging to one person with the same picture, saying that was an example of a fake ID that can overbloat the new voters' register.

"This shall heavily defeat the EC's purpose of compilation of a new credible register," he said.

Dr. Sogbey suggested that, technically, as it is done in the banks, the IDs presented at the registration centres must be verified through the EC's system of verification synchronised to the issuing authorities such as the NIA and Passport Office, adding that this is the standard practice worldwide.

According to him, anything other than that, the product thereof is heavily flawed and will, therefore, make the so-called new register worse than the current register, in terms of credibility.

Dr. Sogbey is, therefore, calling on the Supreme Court to, as a matter of urgency, stop the EC from going ahead with this technically and situationally challenged registration exercise, to avert any instability as Ghana chalks success in her 28 years' progressive democratic governance," he said.