Castle denies Prez Kufuor's comment on ROPAL

The Office of the President has said that President John Agyekum Kufuor has not expressed any opinion on the practicality or otherwise of the implementation of the Representation of the Peoples Amendment Law (ROPAL) in the 2008 elections.

"As far as the President is concerned, the ball is squarely in the court of the independent Electoral Commission (EC) and the President will not want to interfere in the work of the Commission," Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President and Presidential Spokesperson, said in a statement in Accra.

Mr Awuni said while responding to pleas by Ghanaians resident in Brussels, Belgium, last week, for the early implementation of ROPAL, President Kufuor said he was aware that the EC was working at it and that his government was also implementing policies that would enhance the electoral process in the country as a whole.

President Kufuor also said the National Identification Programme and the Biometric Passport were some of the policies that were being implemented by government to help reduce the instance of fakers in the electoral process both at home and abroad.

President Kufuor was quoted as saying in Brussels that he did not think ROPAL could be implemented in the next general elections.

"We therefore wish to suggest that individuals and media houses that have been using the incorrect publication to premise their debates and news items on the implementation of ROPAL to make the necessary amendments."

Source: GNA