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Member of Parliament for Builsa South Constituency, Clement Abas Apaak has raised concerns about what he perceived as the Electoral Commission’s (EC) departure from its mandated duties.
According to him, the EC has not adhered to the prescribed procedures with regard to the ongoing voter registration process.
He explained that the EC’s responsibility, as stipulated by the country’s laws, is to ensure that eligible citizens who are 18 years and above and of sound mind are able to register at their own convenience.
“They should be able to register in a manner that is not going to dehumanize them and call their dignity in question.”
Dr Apaak emphasised that all the issues surrounding the voter registration are working against the right of Ghanaian citizens and therefore called for it to be addressed.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, he highlighted the specific challenges faced in his own constituency and expressed his frustration at being unable to mobilise the youth who should be registering for the upcoming elections.
The Builsa South MP asserted firmly that the Electoral Commission’s actions were not in accordance with the law.
“The Electoral Commission is being unlawful, honestly because if you look at the law, the C.I. the constitution, the mandate of the EC itself and the right to vote and the fact that one is entitled to be registered to vote, you juxtapose that with the EC’s posture and what we’re being told, the EC is breaking the law, the EC is being lawless and in fact, the EC is acting contrarily to what the framers of the constitution intended it to do.”
Dr Apaak maintained that the EC’s actions brings a possibility that eligible voters are going to be disfranchised because of the variables “militating against easy access to these rights.”
He noted that it is the duty of the EC to register eligible voters notwithstanding their number.
“The EC seems to have a penchant for imposing their understanding, their interpretation and their perspective of what is a challenge and what is not on we the people who have the constitutional mandate to enjoy the right.
“You don’t decide whether I should register this time to participate at the district level elections or wait to register later on to participate in the national election. That is not your decision to make. Your job is to make it possible for me to register,” he stressed.
The Builsa South MP added that it is not too late for the EC to do the right thing and urged them to expand the voter registration by devolving the registration centres from their district offices to other electoral areas.
“If you are to do that, you will remove many of these impediments”.
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