Dr. Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South, expressed concern about the integrity of the Ghana card data after it was revealed that a galamsey queen who was allegedly deported for galamsey activities had obtained a Ghana card.
According to reports, Aisha Huang, who was allegedly deported in 2019 for galamsey-related offences, entered Ghana via Togo.
She is said to have obtained a Ghana card under the name Huang En upon her arrival in Ghana in February 2022.
It has also come to light that she flees the country whenever she becomes aware that she is being pursued by law enforcement.
Dr. Apaak believes that a foreign national who was arrested and then let go reentered Ghana and obtained a Ghana card.
The MP is not convinced that the foreigner was ever deported, as we have been led to believe.
In his opinion, this raises fundamental questions about the system’s credibility and is cause for concern, especially since Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia continues to advocate for the Fgaba card to be used as an identity for voter ID registration and possibly as the sole card for election 2024.
He also mentioned some concerns raised by former Electoral Commissioner Dr. Afari Gyan about the need for parliament to scrutinize a draft of a Constitutional Instrument (CI) titled Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021 presented to it by the EC.
Among other concerns, the former EC chair claims that if the C.I goes into effect, potential voters will be unable to register to vote if they do not have the Ghana Card.
He also claimed that several Ghanaians who would have reached voting age by 2023 would be unable to register and vote because they do not currently have the card, and the process for obtaining the card is also time-consuming.
”It is common knowledge that, as at now, many Ghanaians who would otherwise be eligible to register as voters do not have the Ghana Card. Information available to me indicates that, as at July 2022, the National Identification Authority (NIA) had actually issued over 13 million cards to Ghanaians, including an unspecified number of persons below the voting age. This figure is much less than the 17 million voters registered by the EC in 2020. On top of that, based on figures from the 2020 Population and Housing Censure, the projected number of Ghanaians aged 18 years and above will be about 19.5 million by the end of 2023. Taken together, the information would indicate that if the EC were to do a new register based only on the Ghana Card any time soon, the likelihood is that millions of Ghanaians might be disenfranchised,” Dr. Afaari Gyan said.
In support of these claims, Dr. Apaak stated that attempts to use the card as the sole identity for new voter registration should be discouraged and that it should not be used for voting.
He reiterated that there is a plot to rig the 2024 elections in favour of the ruling party.
”Aisha Huang, a criminal, supposedly deported obtained a GHANACARD folks. And GHANACARD is the sole identity for this or that and that, and for Voting as Bawumia is advocating? No way!”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
