Using only Ghana card for voter registration will be a disaster – Mensah-Bonsu

He said many Ghanaians do not have the cards therefore to use it as the only source will be problematic for Ghanaians.

Citing the ongoing challenges in the issuance of Ghana Cards by the National Identification Authority (NIA), Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu argued that it would be premature to rely solely on the Ghana Card for voter registration.

He emphasized that many eligible voters have not yet been issued the card, and some who have registered for it are still waiting to receive it.

Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noted that the EC’s initial decision to link voter registration for the District Level Elections (DLE) to the Ghana Card had faced criticism due to the exclusion of eligible voters who lacked the card. He reiterated that making the Ghana Card the sole document for voter registration would create similar issues.

“So many people don’t have the Ghana card and some of the people who have registered to get the card have not been given the card. And given the pendency of the District Level Elections (DLE) to have tied registration to the Ghana card knowing that some of the eligible Ghanaians have not been registered to get the Ghana cards…to say that you were restricting it to the Ghana card was going to be problematic.”

“If they can assure that every eligible Ghanaian will be provided with the Ghana card then you can bring the instrument based on the Ghana card. But if you admit that not every eligible Ghanaian has been registered or can be registered then it becomes difficult to tie the registration solely to the Ghana card,” he stated.

Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu Pulse Ghana

The EC started a limited voter registration exercise on September 12, seeking to register persons who have turned 18 years after the previous registration exercise.

The 21-day exercise is also an opportunity for persons who have not previously registered with the commission to have their names captured on the voters’ roll.

A section of the public and some political parties raised concerns that the EC was deliberately trying to prevent some eligible persons from participating in the registration exercise.