Former President John Mahama has urged Ghanaians to register for the 2020 general elections, irrespective of any decision taken by the Electoral Commission (EC).
He said citizens must partake in the voter registration exercise even if the EC goes ahead with its plans to compile a new voter roll.
The EC has come under criticism in recent months over its decision to compile a new voter’s register for the 2020 polls.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has vehemently kicked against the idea, claiming the Commission is scheming with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to rig the elections.
But speaking to some chiefs at the Tongor area of South Dayi in the Volta Region, Mahama said they must encourage every citizen to register for the December elections no matter what the EC does.
“I want to remind all our citizens that, this year is an election year. The Electoral Commission has decided that it wants to conduct a registration exercise. We had disagreements with the Electoral Commission on what register to use and the matter has been at the Supreme Court and we are waiting for the Supreme Court for its verdict,” the NDC flagbearer said.
“Whatever verdict the Supreme Court gives, we are ready to be law-abiding citizens so we shall respect the verdict of the court. But whatever the verdict is, there is going to be a registration exercise whether a limited registration, new registration exercise, or validation of an existing register.
“Whichever registration it is, I will like to plead with Togbui to beat the gong to all our people to come out and register so that in December they can register and exercise their votes,” he added.
Meanwhile, the NDC and the EC have a pending case at the Supreme Court over the Commission’s insistence on excluding the current voter ID as an identification document during the voter registration exercise.
