The National Identification Authority (NIA) has finally spoken out against accusations leveled against it by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) claiming the (NIA) is trying to disenfranchise staunch supporters of the party through their registration exercise.
According to the Head of Corporate Affairs of the National Identification Authority (NIA), some of its best work occurred in NDC strongholds and that the authority will never do such unpatriotic things as accused of by the NDC.
He noted that the NIA has put in place rigorous measures which ensures that everything is done accordingly with all people benefitting from the registration process.
Speaking in an interview on Happy 98.9 FM’s Happy Morning Show with host, Samuel Eshun, Francis Palmdeti, Head of Corporate Affairs of the NIA said, “We will be shooting ourselves in the foot if the board and officials of the NIA decide not to do our work well. We will not work to skew our activities towards one party.”
He noted that there is no way the officials of the NIA will even allow for the heads of the authority to disenfranchise Ghanaians. “We make sure we send officials who are natives of the various regions to lead the registration process.” He believes with this system in place, no one can decide to register more or less citizens to the advantage of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP)
Francis Palmdeti motioned that the process in the Volta Region, which is an NDC stronghold was one of best experiences ever. “The turn out in the region was high, coupled with good network, we were able to register more people in the region.”
Debunking claims that the authority took more equipment and registered more people in the Ashanti Region, an NPP stronghold, he said, “We as an authority are required to follow the law and we will not do anything based on political expediency. We used the same machines in the Ashanti and Eastern Region.”
Members of the opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC) have accused the NIA of putting in much efforts to register more people in NPP strongholds whilst intentionally slowing down the registration process and registering less people in NDC strongholds.
The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has insisted that, the Ghanaian passport and National Identification Card should be the only legal requirement for registering citizens unto the new voter’s register whilst rendering the use of the conventional old voters’ ID invalid.
By: Joel Sanco