Director of Elections and IT for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has rejected claims made by the Electoral Commission that it has addressed discrepancies in the 2024 Provisional Voters Register.
This was when he took his turn to submit the party’s position after the EC had submitted a presentation on the provisional register assuring the political parties that it had addressed teg issues.
The EC held an Inter-Party Advisory meeting on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, where the media were allowed to cover the process.
Madam Jean Mensa, the Commissioner, maintained that the EC had a robust system to organise a free, fair, and transparent electoral process, including the compilation of a voters’ register.
But Dr. Omane Boamah says the EC’s lack of decisive action could allow individuals manipulating voter data to continue their activities unchecked, posing a serious threat to the integrity of the upcoming election.
He stated that with barely a few months into the general elections, the delays employed by the EC in addressing the concerns raised by the NDC might make it impossible to correct the register in time.
He insisted that the party has not given up on its request for a forensic audit to be conducted into the regulator and the EC’s IT system to ensure full transparency and accuracy.
The audit would provide confidence in the integrity of the electoral process and safeguard against any potential tampering with voter data, he opined.
“When your roof is leaking, you can choose to mop continuously, or you can decide to fix the leak and then mop. What we see here is the EC mopping and mopping [referring to the EC’s PowerPoint presentation], without addressing the core issue.”
“Fixing the leakage is missing, and this is at the heart of our altruistic demand for a forensic audit. This forensic audit is not just about the register; when you have fixed the register, I will demonstrate to you how, as a result of our revelations, some aftermath of the fixing is providing a semblance that we’re fixing it. When you fix it, we all look at the hard copies, and we’re all given the PVR soft copies.
“In November, if the very criminals that got us here are still there engaged in illegal transfers, we will come back to square one. At that time, it will be too close to the December 7 elections. This is why we’re saying, We need to adopt a dichotomous approach, look at the register, fix the issues in there, and also audit the very IT system that allows these anomalies to occur.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
