The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Director of Elections and IT, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has strongly rejected the Electoral Commission’s (EC) assertions that the discrepancies in the 2024 Provisional Voters Register have been adequately addressed.
At the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held in Accra on Tuesday, October 1, he voiced his concerns that the EC’s failure to take decisive measures could allow those manipulating voter data to operate without oversight, jeopardizing the integrity of the upcoming elections.
With the election date rapidly approaching, Dr. Omane Boamah warned that the EC’s delays in fully resolving these discrepancies could prevent timely corrections to the voter register. “Time is of the essence,” he emphasized, highlighting the urgent need to tackle these issues.
He also reiterated the NDC’s call for a thorough audit of both the 2024 voter register and the EC’s IT system to ensure complete transparency and accuracy.
According to Dr. Omane Boamah, such an audit would bolster confidence in the electoral process and protect against potential tampering of voter data.
Using a vivid analogy during his address at the IPAC meeting, he said, “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 of 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.”
In response, the Electoral Commission (EC) has argued that the NDC’s call for an audit is premature, emphasizing that they have robust procedures in place for finalizing the voter register.
The EC detailed a multi-step process designed to address discrepancies and maintain the integrity of the register, which includes stages such as registration, exhibition, and review.
They assured stakeholders that most discrepancies have been rectified and that any outstanding issues will be resolved through the established procedures.