NDC’s nationwide “Enough is Enough” protest against EC underway

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has started its nationwide “Enough is Enough” protest against the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC). The demonstration that is going on in all 16 regions of the country is to raise red flags about the posture of the EC after the party made calls for an independent forensic audit of the electoral registers to be used for voting.

Ghanaians will go to the polls on Saturday, December 7th, to elect a new president and 275 members of parliament.

The party has accused the EC of refusing to allow for a forensic audit of the voter register ahead of the December 7th elections after it alleged a number of anomalies, including illegal but mass transfer of votes in many polling stations.

The alleged transfers were detected by the party’s IT team. After the NDC informed the EC about their claims, the EC was and has remained adamant about their request. The NDC believes the forensic audit of the will go a long way to help the EC organise a credible, free, and fair election and that the audit will ensure no voter is denied the right to vote, especially where their electoral data have been transferred to other regions or polling stations when the voters did not in any way initiate the transfer.

In a related development, a Deputy General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Haruna Mohammed, has criticised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for its planned nationwide protest against the Electoral Commission (EC) today, September 17.

He labelled the protest the “most useless exercise” he had ever witnessed, questioning its potential to achieve any meaningful change.

The NDC has gone ahead to start the peaceful demonstration under the direct supervision of the Ghana police, who were present at all 16 starting points of the demonstration today.

The NDC leadership in Accra is expected to present a copy of their petition to the Parliament of Ghana and the EC.

In a related development, the Electoral Commission (EC) has extended a formal invitation to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for a meeting aimed at engaging in dialogue over some concerns the party raised regarding the voter registration for the upcoming December 7 general elections.

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Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare, underscored the need for dialogue and collaboration between the Commission and political parties to resolve any existing issues and ensure a smooth electoral process.

In an engagement with the media, Dr. Asare said the NDC should engage directly with the EC if they have concerns about the electoral register or any other aspect of the upcoming elections instead of resorting to its nationwide protest today, September 17.

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Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary election has been described as a critical one that must be held in a peaceful manner to cement the gains Ghana has made in her democratic journey since the 1992 constitution came into effect.