MP appeal to Obama to help GHana…adopt electronic way of voting

The MP for Kwabre West, Mr. Owusu Ansah, has appealed to President Barrack Obama to help Ghana to adopt the electronic way of voting to help prevent acrimony and violence after elections.

The member said this when he was contributing to a statement made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, on the activities scheduled for the visit of the US President and what Ghana stands to gain from it. According to him, there are clear evidence that the manual system of registration, election and declaration of results has outlived its usefulness and Ghana is no exception.

The former Ashanti Regional Minister stated that if indeed President Obama is appreciative of the success we have made so far in pursuit of democracy, then he must go the extra mile to assist Ghana to conduct free and fair elections.

He added that the USA has been of assistance to Ghana for a long time now and assisting us to deepen our democracy would not be asking too much.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs in his statement to the house said the visit of President Obama was an opportunity for the two countries to cement the ties and bonds of cooperation between the good people of Ghana and the USA. The Minister maintained that his visit is also recognition of the progress the country had made in both our constitutional rule and economic performance even though “we still face a number of constraints”.

Alhaji Mumuni noted that Ghana had shown determination and commitment to forge ahead in a spirit of cooperation and consensus building with all her partners, both at the bilateral and multilateral levels, in addressing developmental challenges.

He said the historic visit is a testimony to the very warm and friendly relations between our two countries, and a strong acknowledgement of the spirit of bipartisanship that characterize our shared values based on the promotion of democracy and good governance.

He said the country was expecting the US through the global peace operations initiative to equip the Ghana Armed Forces to enable it meet its commitments in international peace support operations.

The US President is expected to arrive in the country on Friday July 10. He is expected to visit the La Polyclinic, the Cape Coast Castle and the International Conference Centre where he would address parliament.