A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court presided over by Chief Justice, Kwesi Anin Yeboah has indefinitely adjourned the judgment of the case in which the National Democratic Congress dragged the Electoral Commission to court over its decision not include the existing voters’ register as a requirement in compiling the new voters’ register.
The judgment was initially scheduled for Tuesday, 23 June but Starr News’ Court correspondent Mutalla Inusah reports that the apex court has now adjourned the judgment indefinitely.
The parties are to return to court on Wednesday, June 24, for hearing.
The opposition NDC argues that a new voter’s register will deprive many Ghanaians the right to vote in the polls if the existing voters’ ID card is rejected a claim the EC disagrees with.
The party has argued in its suit that the EC lacks the power to go ahead with its plans because it can only “compile a register of voters only once, and thereafter revise it periodically, as may be determined by law”.
The Electoral Commission (EC) on Thursday, June 18, piloted the new Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits it had procured for the mass registration of voters for the December 7, 2020 general election, with an assurance that no eligible Ghanaian will be disenfranchised.
The Director of Elections at the Commission, Dr Serebour Quarcoo, who gave the assurance, said minor challenges associated with the BVR kits had been identified and that they would be fixed to guarantee a smooth registration exercise.
He, however, said the EC had not taken delivery of all the BVRs and that the full component of the kits would be ready before the registration exercise.
“Some of the BVR kits were brought into the country less than a month now so we want to try them and have a feel of how the system will work. For the main registration exercise, we expect 8,500 BVR kits, but not all of them are in the country now. By the time we start the exercise, we hope that all of them would have arrived,” the director added.
As at about 8:30 a.m. yesterday, officials of the EC had set up the Accra Ridge Church in readiness for the pilot exercise.
And in compliance with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) safety protocols, chairs were arranged at least two metres apart.
Some officials of the EC also positioned themselves at various entry points to the venue to ensure that patrons washed their hands and used hand sanitizers before they were allowed into demarcated areas.
They also ensured that everyone on the church premises wore a nose mask.
Patrons
The Chairperson of the EC, Mrs. Jean Mensa, was at the center to monitor the exercise. Some political actors, the clergy and civil society organizations (CSOs) also participated in the exercise.
Key among them were the Campaign Manager of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2020 elections, Mr Peter Mac Manu; the Director of Information Technology (IT) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Osei Kwame Griffiths; the Founder of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Mr Kofi Akpaloo; the General Secretary of the All People’s Congress (APC), Mr Mordecai Thiombiano; and an Independent candidate in the 2016 election, Mr Joseph Osei Yeboah.
A former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa (ACAA), Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, also participated in the exercise.
Mixed reactions
After going through the processes, Mr Mac Manu said he was confident that the EC would compile a credible register.
For his part, Mr Griffiths said the exercise was fraught with challenges that gave the indication that the EC would not be able to register all eligible voters and compile a credible register before the December 7 elections.
He said an analysis of the pilot registration at the regional and national levels showed that the 38 days set aside by the EC for the mass registration exercise would lead to congestion that could disenfranchise many Ghanaians.
Process
Dr. Quarcoo said it would take a prospective voter 15 minutes to complete registration and receive a card; however, a person could spend more time if he delayed in providing the needed information to registration officers.
He said the commission had also deepened engagements with the National COVID-19 Response Team and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to ensure that protocols and safety measures were put in place at registration centers.
Former President John Mahama is intensifying his campaign for a comeback in 2021 with a promise to build a hospital ship to improve healthcare delivery if elected on December 7, 2020.
“We will build a new Onipa Nua Hospital Ship and deploy it to provide medical services to the inaccessible riverine and fishing communities on the inland Volta waterways,” Mr Mahama said.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate made the promise on Thursday, June 18, 2020, during one of his Facebook Live sessions.
He made the promise to build and deploy the hospital ship after criticizing President Nana Akufo-Addo for abandoning some of his innovative policies that were aimed at improving healthcare delivery in the country.
He blamed the current administration for abandoning the Onua Do Mobile Vans that his administration introduced in 2015.
“These were vans meant to provide medical outreach services…in underserved and hard to reach areas of the country. But the vans have been left at the vagaries of the weather,” he stated.
He said the vans were designed to deliver specialized services in ophthalmology, dentistry, mammograms and general medicine by visiting rural and far-to-reach communities of the country but they have not been put to that use since he left office.
He said since the Akufo-Addo government has deliberately abandoned the specialized vans at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
He, therefore, promised to rehabilitate these dilapidated mobile clinics and expand the number to care for all 16 regions of the country to enable government “take healthcare to the doorsteps of all our people, even in the remotest parts of our country”.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has planned to acclaim President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as its flagbearer for Election 2020 on June 27, 2020.
The General Secretary of the NPP, Mr John Boadu announced this in a statement Thursday afternoon.
Already, President Akufo-Addo has decided and announced his intention to run the elections with the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate.
President Akufo-Addo was the only person who filed to contest the flagbearer slot of the NPP for Election 2020 when the party opened nominations.
Subsequently, the National Council of the party resolved to endorse his candidacy via acclamation.
It would, therefore, be done together with his Running Mate at a special National Council meeting of the Party to be held in Accra with the media and relevant stakeholders in attendance.
The leading opposition political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has already settled on former President John Dramani Mahama as its flagbearer for Election 2020.
Mr Mahama is yet to select his running mate.
Below is a copy of the statement
NPP TO ACCLAIM H.E. NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO ON JUNE 27, AS THE PARTY’S 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, AND TO HOLD PARLIAMENTARY PRIMARIES IN THREE OUTSTANDING CONSTITUENCIES
The NPP will, on Saturday, June 27, 2020, acclaim the sole Candidate who filed his nomination to contest in the 2020 Presidential Primaries, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the Party’s Presidential Candidate.
The acclamation of the Presidential Candidate together with his Running Mate will be done at a special National Council meeting of the Party to be held in Accra with the media and relevant stakeholders in attendance.
The Party equally resolved to hold Parliamentary Primaries in Gushegu, Dormaa Central and Kwadaso Constituencies in line with the decision of the Party’s National Executive Committee as follows:
With the Gushegu Constituency, the Party, after extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, has, in line with Article 12 of the NPP Constitution, selected Mr. Hassan Tampuli as its Parliamentary Candidate for the Constituency. This follows the decision of the two aspiring Candidates, Hon. Iddi Ziblim and Osman Mahama, to withdraw from the parliamentary contest.
In Dormaa Constituency, the incumbent Member of Parliament and Minister for Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyemang Manu, shall contest in the Primaries as an Unopposed Candidate following the decision of his sole contender, Dr Yao Yeboah to withdraw from the contest after the implementation of a successful roadmap.
Primaries in the Kwadaso Constituency shall be held on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 following an amicable resolution of the issues regarding the Constituency Album.
The Party wishes to use this occasion to commend all the aspiring Candidates who graciously withdrew from the contest and respected the Party’s decision.
Henceforth, people who fail to wear face masks in public would be committing an offense that carries a prison sentence of four to 10 years or a fine of GHc12,000 to GHc60,000, or both.
This was contained in a new Executive Instrument (E.I. 164) signed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on June 15, 2020, as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID -19).
Per E.I. 164, which was gazetted on Monday, June 15, and sighted by Graphic Online, the mandatory wearing of face masks shall be in force for three months and shall apply to all parts of Ghana.
The E.I. was issued by the President pursuant to the powers granted him under the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012).
The new E.I. makes it mandatory for people to “wear face masks, face shields or any other face covering that covers his or her nose and mouth completely when the person is in public or leaving or returning to his place of abode.”
Paragraph 4 (1) of the E.I. 164 states that the police have the authority to make random checks to “ensure enforcement compliance”
According to paragraph 4(2) of E.I. 164, any person who fails to comply with the mandatory wearing of nose masks shall be punished in accordance with Section 6 of Act 1012.
Per Section 6 of Act 1012, “a person who fails to comply with the restrictions imposed under the Executive Instrument issued under subsection 1 of Section 2 commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than 1,000 penalty unit (Ghc12,000) and not more than 5,000 penalty units (Ghc60,000) or to a term of imprisonment not less than four years and not more than 10 years or to both.”
Former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Tsatsu Tsikata, has said former President John Agyekum Kufuor was determined to jail him at all cost although he had not engaged in any wrongdoing.
Mr Tsikata told Alfred Ocansey on TV3’sHot Issue on Thursday that his trial was purely political and intended to satisfy the aspiration of then-President Kufuor.
The then trial judge, Justice Henrietta Abban, he explained, was only used to prosecute that political motive against him.
Mr Tsikata was sentenced for willfully causing financial loss to the state through a loan that the GNPC guaranteed for Valley Farms, a private cocoa-growing company.
He was found guilty on three counts of willfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state and another count of misapplying public funds. He was convicted on June 18, 2008, and by Justice Henrietta Abban.
The legal luminary was granted a presidential pardon by same President Kufuor but he rejected it on the grounds that his trial was politically motivated and that he did nothing wrong.
He later appealed the case at the Court of Appeal and was accordingly acquitted and discharged.
The Court of Appeal upheld that he was denied a fair trial when the High Court gave a judgment in spite of an appeal.
Nearly five years after his acquittal and discharge, Mr Tsikata narrated on Thursday, June 18 that his was “not a case in which an independent judicial decision is being given”.
“It was a politically driven agenda and [Justice Henrietta Abban] was, unfortunately, a tool for that political agenda.”
Explaining why he rejected the presidential pardon, he said: “As I wrote in the letter to President Kufuor, my quest was for justice, it was not for his mercy.
“I was not going to allow his pardon to get in the way of my seeking justice.
“There has been a miscarriage of justice when justice is sought to be done in the name of the president, it leads to a desecration.”
Legal luminary and former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, has said he almost died in prison after his controversial incarceration 12 years ago.
According to him, although his prison experience was painful, he reflects on it with gratitude to God for keeping him alive.
“When I look back, I don’t think of it as something terrible that I went through and feel bitter or angry. Rather, I am thankful to God that I went through that valley and was able to come out still alive,” he said.
Mr Tsikata was speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues on Thursday, June 18, 2020.
“I could have been dead because I had an asthmatic attack at the end, but by God’s grace, I am still alive. I have a lot to be grateful for in terms of the support that I received from my wife, my siblings, my mother, my family and all the people who I have never met before in the country and other parts of the world,” he recounted.
Tsatsu Tsikata was sentenced for willfully causing financial loss to the state through a loan facility the GNPC guaranteed for Valley Farms, a private cocoa-growing company.
Following a legal tussle between his lawyers and the state, he was eventually found guilty on three counts of willfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state and another count of misapplying public funds.
The June 18, 2008 conviction, according to Mr Tsikata was politically motivated.
“This is not a case in which an independent judicial decision is being given. It was a politically driven agenda and [Justice Henrietta Abban] was, unfortunately, a tool for that political agenda,” he said.
“It was such an unexpected and extraordinary event that day on June 18, 2008, but as I look back now I take it as something that happened, unfortunate as it was, it took me through a further five months in which I experienced what I can only call a lot of blessings from God,” he told TV3’s Hot Issues.
While Mr Tsikata was in prison, former President John Agyekum Kufuor granted him a presidential pardon but Mr Tsikata rejected it.
He rejected it on grounds that he did not do any wrong in the first place to be incarcerated.
He later appealed his sentencing and was acquitted and discharged. The Appeals Court ruled that he was denied a fair trial.
The Electoral Commission (EC) says that it is “interesting” that the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which accused it of being in bed with the National Identification Authority (NIA) to rig the 2020 election, would “today turn around and propose data synchronization which would require the EC to work directly with the NIA and rely extensively on its biometric data in its database.”
In an official response to the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu’s suggestion that the EC didn’t understand data synchronization because the Commission had indicated during its Tuesday meeting with Members of Parliament that it was not going to rely on the biometric data of citizens captured by the NIA, the EC said Mr Iddrisu “has not read the CI 126” well.
To the EC, if Mr Iddrisu had read it, “it would have been obvious to him that the Commission was not seeking to synchronize its data with that of the NIA.”
According to the EC, it has not stated anywhere that “it intends to use the biometric data in NIA’s database.”
Therefore, the Minority Leader’s suggestion that the EC didn’t understand data synchronization because the Commission had indicated during the meeting that it was not going to rely on the biometric data of citizens captured by the NIA was a misrepresentation of the issues.
“Indeed, the recently passed CI to guide the registration of voters, CI 126, does not include provisions to allow for the use of the biometric data of the NIA.”
“What the CI states and which is what the Commission is seeking to do is to rely on the physical NIA card to prove a person’s citizenship as a precondition for registration.”
“Indeed, had the Minority Leader read the CI 126, it would have been obvious to him that the Commission was not seeking to synchronize its data with that of the NIA.”
“For the record, merely presenting one’s card to prove one’s citizenship does not require a direct relationship or collusion with the NIA as the Minority has sought to portray,” the EC stated in its response statement signed and issued by the Acting Director of Public Affairs, Mrs Sylvia Annoh on Thursday.
The opposition NDC had accused the EC and the NIA of devising means to deny about 11 million Ghanaians the chance to vote in the upcoming 2020 general elections.
The plans, the National Chairman of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo believes, were to rig the elections in favour of the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
He explained that the decision by the EC to use only the Ghana Card and passport as the only required documents to get registered as a voter in the country was a calculated plan by the Akufo-Addo administration to rig the upcoming elections.
Last Tuesday’s meeting
The Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa, on Tuesday [June 16] held a three-hour closed-door meeting with the Special Budget Committee of Parliament.
The EC briefed the committee on the roadmap for the conduct of the 2020 general election.
Shortly after, the Minority in Parliament, at a press conference, expressed strong reservation about the decision by the EC to phase out 6,300 registration centres out of the 33,367 gazetted centres across the country.
Giving his version of what transpired at the meeting, the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu said having listened to the EC Chairperson, he felt profoundly troubled for the future of Ghana’s democracy.
“I feel disappointed that in her answers to questions at the committee level, she made two significant worrying statements that Ghanaians must know,” he said.
He stated that what was even more worrying was the fact that the EC chairperson did not seem to understand the essence of what he described as “data synchronisation and data harmonisation.”
“In her answer to a simple question, she stated that the EC did not intend to use the data of the National Identification Authority. So what will the EC be doing with the NIA identity card?” he asked.
EC explanation
Explaining earlier the EC said all 33,367 polling stations across the country will be covered in the mass voters registration exercise.
The EC said the exercise, scheduled to begin on June 30, 2020, would be undertaken using the cluster system in five phases and did not mean that the number of polling stations would be reduced..
Five polling stations will form a cluster.
The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Corporate Services, Dr Bossman Eric Asare, told the Daily Graphic that the EC had procured 8,000 biometric voter registration kits, including backups, to cover the 33,367 polling stations across the country during the exercise.
He urged Ghanaians to disabuse their minds of the notion that the cluster system meant that the number of polling stations would be reduced.
Below is a copy of the EC’s statement
EC RESPONDS TO MINORITY LEADER’S CLAIMS
Our attention has been drawn to a comment made by the Minority Leader of Parliament following a meeting between the Electoral Commission and the Special Budget Committee of Parliament of which he is a member.
In the said interview, the Minority Leader sought to suggest that the EC didn’t understand data synchronization because the Commission had indicated during the meeting that it was not going to rely on the biometric data of citizens captured by the NIA.
For the record, nowhere has the Commission stated that it intends to use the biometric data in NIA’s data base.
Indeed, the recently passed CI to guide the registration of voters, CI 126, does not include provisions to allow for the use of the biometric data of the NIA.
What the CI states and which is what the Commission is seeking to do is to rely on the physical NIA card to prove a person’s citizenship as a precondition for registration.
Indeed, had the Minority Leader read the CI 126, it would have been obvious to him that the Commission was not seeking to synchronize its data with that of the NIA.
For the record, merely presenting one’s card to prove one’s citizenship does not require a direct relationship or collusion with the NIA as the Minority has sought to portray.
It is interesting that the same Minority which accused the EC of being in bed with the NIA to rig the election, would today turn around and propose data synchronization which would require the EC to work directly with the NIA and rely extensively on its biometric data in its database.
Again, the Minority leader is on record to have stated that, the EC indicated at the meeting that it was going to phase out and reduce the polling stations by 6,780.
For the records, the EC never made such a statement. What the EC said was that the 2020 registration would be in phases under a cluster system.
This means that the 33,367 registration centres will be divided into five. Each cluster would consist of 6,780 registration centres. Each cluster would be made up of 5 registration centres numbered 1-5.
During the first phase, all the registration centres numbered 1 nationwide will register applicants for 6 days.
During the second phase all registration centres numbered 2, will register applicants for 6 days. This will go on until all the phases are covered.
Thereafter, there will be a nationwide mop-up exercise. At no point during the discussion did the EC state that it was phasing out or reducing the polling stations by 6,780.
Indeed, the fact that our explanation of the cluster system and methodology for registration never raised an eyebrow during our discussions indicates clearly that the EC never made this statement.
We have no doubt that members of the Committee would have been in a state of uproar if indeed the EC had made such an assertion.
It is difficult to imagine that Members of Parliament will gloss over this decision and not seek clarification from the Commission on a critical subject such as this.
Phasing out and reducing the polling stations by 6,780 is not an issue to be taken lightly by anyone let alone our Members of Parliament.
From the civil and comprehensive discussions that took place at the meeting, the claims by the Minority Leader are unfortunate.
The Commission wishes to thank the members of the Special Budget Committee of Parliament for their continued support and constructive feedback.
Five team members of the Multimedia Group Limited (MGL), a media company have tested positive for the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Accra.
This was made known during a radio news bulletin on one of the radio stations owned by the company – Joy FM – during the 6 pm bulletin Thursday, June 18, 2020.
The management of the company has subsequently put out a statement explaining the positive cases at its premises in Accra were discovered after contact tracing by the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
“The affected team members, who were all asymptomatic, have been isolated in line with case management protocols…we can report that they are all hale and hearty and are responding well to treatment,” the MGL said in the statement.
One of the affected persons, Gary Al-Smith, a Sports Editor at the MGL has revealed that he was asymptomatic [producing or showing no symptoms.]
He is currently on admission at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).
All the other affected team members, in the business office of the company in Accra who are all asymptomatic, have since been isolated.
Al-Smith speaking to Emefa Apawu during the 6 pm news bulletin explained he has since been working [via internet] from his hospital bed.
“Covid-19 is real but yes, if you take very good care of yourself, it will not kill you, to the extent that you can even give live commentary on Joy FM,” he said amidst laughter.
He said until his revelation Thursday evening, a lot of the team members at the MGL did not even know he was Covid-19 positive because he has been chatting with them and has been working [remotely].
“I have been on programs [via video] yesterday I was on Sports Today for 30 minutes. I did a bit of business news the other day, you know and the business news anchor did not even know, so I have been receiving great care here [UGMC] just like many patients.
He said he was currently on zinc and vitamin C and has been asked to rest as much as possible and should only do some work when he needs to.
“I only join the team [Joy Sports team via phone or internet] you know, when I feel I’ve overslept and I need to be busy, you know what they say about a dull mind, if your mind is too dull you go crazy, so you really don’t want to have that and my team, Joy Sports team have been great.”
He said the Joy Sports team have known and “they’ve worked with me… I informed them because we believe that as media practitioners we can’t ask people to do as we say but not as we do, so it’s important that we take responsibility that I have Covid-19 and we put it out. So my team has known and they’ve worked with me throughout the period.”
Al-Smith added that as the days go on, he will be sharing his story on a daily basis with the rest of the world.
“I cannot emphasize how amazing, you hear that the frontline workers are great but it is not until you are part of it and you feel it too, understand the sacrifices and things that these guys do. So I’m being well taken care of at the UGMC.”
On how he got to know he was positive, Al Smith explained, “you know Multimedia had one suspected case about two weeks ago. The company sent an email and this person happened to be on the same shift with me in the evening, so as part of the precautions, I went to test somewhere last week because I felt like some small malaria feverish thing.”
“But I went to check for malaria and it was malaria but as a precaution, I just went to the nearest… hospital and I got my results a couple of days later after which we started … activating all the protocols in terms of my family and all that. My family has been in the know and before coming out to speak about it I had informed the most important people in my life, my wife, my parents…”
On how they took it, he said his mum who was more spiritual was calm. “My mum claims that she already knew even though I didn’t tell her that day because she was praying and God told her. My dad also took it very coolly as well, my wife has been incredibly supportive and I will like to publicly appreciate her and tell her how much I appreciate her support and her decision to give me permission to talk about it because trust me, if my wife had not given me permission I wouldn’t have.”
Below is a copy of the statement the MGL put out on the issue
This is to inform you that five members of our team at our business offices in Accra who were contact traced and tested by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have tested positive for the Covid-19.
The affected team members, who were all asymptomatic, have been isolated in line with case management protocols.
Officials of the Ghana Health Service are monitoring them and we can report that they are all hale and hearty and are responding well to treatment.
As part of ensuring the safety and well-being of our team members and our guests and to minimize any potential spread of the virus, we have ramped up internal contact tracing, in liaison with the Ghana Health Service.
Together, we have ensured that team members who may have come into contact with the five (5) team members who tested positive have been tested and have gone into self-isolation for 14 days as required.
In addition, all remaining team members are to be tested. Testing commenced on Monday, June 15, 2020.
Furthermore, thorough disinfection and deep cleansing of our studios, offices, and facilities take place on a daily basis.
The measures, as indicated above, have been taken to enable us to protect team members, guests, and visitors to our studios and offices.
The measures notwithstanding, we wish to encourage all team members and guests to observe the enhanced safety protocols we have put in place in all our offices and branches.
Be assured that we are working with health authorities to implement all safety measures as required while discharging our responsibility to the nation, our audience, and advertisers even in these difficult times.
