The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has congratulated the Electoral Commission (EC) for compiling a new voters’ register in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
Nana Akufo-Addo says, he is extremely happy over the ‘orderly and safe’ conduct of the registration contrary to the exercise’s widespread condemnation that it will lead to a surge in the number of Coronavirus infections and related deaths.
“The Electoral Commission has completed the successful compilation of a new register ahead of the conduct of the 2020 general election. On behalf of the people of Ghana, I congratulate warmly, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Ms. Jean Mensa, her two deputies, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare and Mr. Samuel Tetteh and the entire Commission for their efficient, safe and transparent nature of the registration exercise”, he said while addressing the nation on Sunday.
According to Nana Addo, there were genuine and understandable concerns about conducting such a complex exercise, involving millions of citizens at this time.
But, “at the end of the day, Ghanaians did their civic duty, by going out to register, having found that the process was overwhelming orderly, peaceful and safe”, he noted.
Akufo-Addo ridicules critics of exercise
As he commended the electoral management body, Nana Addo, however, took a swipe at groups which opposed the compilation exercise and wished for its failure.
He described them as “professional Jeremiahs and naysayers“, maintaining, they have been proved wrong, given the efficient manner by which the EC carried out the exercise.
“There were those who expressed various degrees of hysteria and negativity towards the exercise, with some, who swore heaven earth to resist the compilation of the register at the peril of their lives, ending up registering. By the grace of God, the work of the Electoral Commission, and the effective measures put in place by the government, these prophecies of doom did not materialise.”
He stressed: “the professional Jemermiahs and naysayers who seek, cynically, to make a profitable industry out of spreading falsehoods, fear and panic, stoking divisive, ethnic sentiments, underestimate the resolve and the determination of Ghanaians to build a united, democratic, peaceful, prosperous and happy Ghana. We will continue to work hard to prove them wrong.”
Most credible register in Ghana’s history
President Akufo-Addo also declared the freshly-compiled voters’ register by the electoral management body as arguably “the most credible voter register in our history“.
He described as remarkable the ability of Ghanaians to conduct such an exercise in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 outbreak.
He said the moment is enough proof that Ghana’s democratic entities have what it takes to carry out their constitutional mandate no matter the situation.
“Fellow Ghanaians, the remarkable nature of us, the Ghanaian people, the first colonised people in sub-Saharan Africa to gain their freedom and independence from foreign rule, is manifesting itself again. In the midst of the pandemic, we have been able to compile a voters’ register, arguably, the most credible voter register in our history; our democratic institutions continue to function effectively.”
