General News
Nothing wrong if EC abolishes guarantor system – Gyampo
A political science lecturer with the University of Ghana, Prof. Ransford Gyampo has backed the Electoral Commission (EC) to go ahead and abolish the guarantor system for voter registration.
The EC has announced sweeping reforms to voter registration and voting, two years before the next general elections.
These will affect source documents for voter registration and the voter ID system and will take effect with the maturation of a yet-to-be-laid constitutional instrument.
The Commission, while debunking claims that the Ghana Card will be used as voter identification in 2024, insisted that the Ghana Card will be the sole document for limited and continuous voter registrations.
EC believes the guarantor system is fraught with many challenges and could no longer provide a secure system of voter registration for the country.
Prof. Ransford Gyampo says the current system has been abused and must be relooked at.
“This is a step in the right direction to abolish the guarantor system The idea of a consolidated national ID card is a great thing and if we are going to have that, it doesn’t make sense to have the abused guarantor system. So I don’t think that the EC is too wrong with that position”, Prof. Gyampo said on Eyewitness News.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) already fears the EC cannot be trusted with these new electoral amendments.
General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, in his reaction to the development on the same programme insisted that the move remains a calculated tool to disenfranchise its members.
“If the EC is going to use a system to disenfranchise about three million Ghanaians [who do not have Ghana card], does that result in a free, fair and transparent elections because right from the word go, those people have been cut off. The intention is to disenfranchise NDC people so they [NPP] win the elections that is why they are claiming to break the eight”, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah lamented.
But the political scientist is advising both the electoral management body and the parties opposed to the move to iron out outstanding issues and build consensus.
“The EC would have to be real and appreciate the kind of suspicion that the opposition has. There should be trust and genuine dialogue with the opposition with the view of ensuring that all suspicions and fears are cleared”, he suggested.
A terrible accident occurred at the base of Galenkui Mountain in Ho, claiming the lives of nine people, including babies.
The terrifying occurrence occurred as a 207 Benz was transporting goods and passengers from Abotoase to Sogakofe.
The car encountered brake failure while descending the mountain, culminating in a collision with a Zoomlion garbage truck.
Initial reports verified seven fatalities at the disaster scene, including newborns and children.
Following that, Mary Dzifa, a nurse at Ho Municipal Hospital, informed Citi News that roughly ten children had died in the disaster.
“I was at our facility yesterday, November 22, when a car rushed in with dead and injured children and injured adults, especially men. Some were attended to at the facility, and the rest who were severely injured were taken to the Ho Teaching Hospital. The dead children will be about 10.”
Officials at the Ho Teaching Hospital said that 32 people were admitted for injuries incurred, with 9 dying as a result of their injuries.
Amos Jah, the Public Relations Officer of Ho Teaching Hospital, said that the injured patients are receiving medical attention and making progress in their rehabilitation.
“I received a call from a friend yesterday who was going back to town and that he saw the accident, so I quickly informed the nurses to be on alert. Some were brought in with pickups, ambulance, tricycles; the situation was very bad, some had broken limbs, some heads almost being severed, some were bleeding from all parts of the body. After two hours, we were able to calm the situation down.”
“We had a total of 30 accident victims brought here. Two others were brought from the Municipal Hospital this morning, making it 32 in all. My information is that we lost 9 of them, 4 are kids and 5 are adults. For the kids, three were brought in dead. Those injured are responding to treatment.”
Dr Adam Bonaa, a security expert, has requested the Oti Regional Minister to restrict all public events in Nkwanta in response to the riots that have taken eight lives.
The fights, in his opinion, were avoidable.
“The Regional Minister and his men must make certain that this never happens again.” This was avoidable, yet 8 people died as a result,” he remarked on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Tuesday, November 21.
He further suggested that “It is important to suspend all public activities that are likely to take place by the two factions, this is the surest way of letting them know that there is an authority within Nkwanta and the region.”
The Oti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) will host an emergency security meeting today, Wednesday, November 22, in response to the Nkwanta riots.
Regional Minister Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, appearing on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Tuesday, November 21, verified the number of dead and described the pandemonium as “ethnic clashes.”
“Tomorrow we are going to have an emergency security meeting again, ” he further said.
He also disclosed that there had been conflicts in town two weeks earlier between members of two tribes, Adele and Akyode.
Following the conflicts, the Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, acted on the advice of the REGSEC and via Executive Instrument to impose a curfew on Nkwanta township.
The curfew will be in force from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21.
On Tuesday, November 21, an attacker opened fire in the town’s central market area.
Several people have been murdered and others have been injured as a result of the incident.
The Oti Regional Security Council dispatched officers to the region to handle the situation.
“Government wishes to appeal to all to exercise restraint and to use the established mechanisms for the resolution of all their conflicts and disputes.
“Meanwhile, the Government will like to reiterate that, there is a ban on all persons in Nkwanta Township and its environs from carrying arms, ammunition or any offensive weapons and any persons found with any arms or ammunition will be arrested and prosecuted,” the Minister said.
Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has categorically rejected selling his official house to a private developer.
He then stated that his home was “almost sold” to a private developer.
The Speaker of Parliament recently revealed that his Accra home was sold to a private developer while he was still living there.
He said this only came to light when the developer went to the Lands Commission to register the land on Monday at the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum in Accra.
However, the Lands Commission claimed in a statement that “at no time did the Lands Commission sell the said property to a private developer.”
In a recent meeting with civil society organisations, the Speaker emphasised that his official house was on the verge of being turned over to a developer except for the intervention of the Lands Commission.
“I didn’t say my residence was sold. That was not what I said. This was just a comment in passing when I said it was almost sold but luckily, I was in possession. And I said it was when they went to Lands Commission that they realised from the search that it was the residence of the Speaker,” Alban Bagbin clarified.
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