New Voters’ Register Will Not Be Costly - John Boadu

The General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu has said Electoral Commission (EC) decision to compile new voters register will be less expensive than the system upgrade.

John Boadu justified the acquisition of a new Biometric Voter Management System and the compilation of fresh voters’ register for the upcoming 2020 general and parliamentary polls.

"In 2014 and 2015 the EC conducted a limited registration exercise which was more expensive than the new voters’ register the EC is planning to do now so I don’t agree with people who are saying the new voters register is a waste of money,” John Boadu told Kwame Tutu on ‘Anopa Nkomo‘ on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7.

John Boadu discounted concerns that the time was too short to compile a new voters register, and claims that a new register will amount to a waste of scarce resources.

According to the EC, most of its current biometric devices are faulty adding that Ghana will incur extra cost in repairing the devices compared to procuring new ones.

To some political parties, the voters’ register is credible and therefore the taxpayers’ money should not be used to compile a new voters’ register.

The EC said the system to be used to compile a new register, will include facial verification that will eliminate manual verification and ensure credibility.