President Akufo-Addo says the December 7 elections must be a Ghanaian election and not a West African poll.
It comes after accusations of intimidation and machinations against his government following the deployment of soldiers to the stronghold of the opposition National Democratic Congress ahead of a mass voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission. The registration exercise begins Tuesday, June 30,2020.
Both former President John Mahama and Jerry Rawlings have condemned the deployment of the military to the Volta region.
Addressing the nation Monday night, the President said the sanctity of the polls will be protected by his government.
“It must be our collective duty to ensure that we have a register that is fit for purpose in December, and we must all make sure that persons who do not meet the requirements, as set out clearly in the Constitution, do not find their names into the register. If you aid the registration of an ineligible person, and you are caught, you will face the full rigours of the law. The election on 7th December must be a Ghanaian election, not a West African election, conducted with a voter register of Ghanaians. That is the only way the true will of the Ghanaian people can manifest,” he said.
He added he is not interested in winning a rigged election.
“Let me state, without any form of equivocation, that these deployments are not in any way intended to intimidate or prevent eligible Ghanaians from registering to vote in December. They are there for their express purpose, which is to guard our borders. That is the limit of their remit, and they will not be permitted to stray beyond that remit.
“I am fully aware, like the military commanders, of the sensitivity of their deployments at this point in our history, and I am confident that that sensitivity will be fully respected. I have no interest in disenfranchising any eligible Ghanaian from registering in tomorrow’s exercise, nor am I interested in any improper machinations to win any election. I have spent my life fighting for free, democratic institutions in our country, and I will continue in that fight for the rest of my life. The idea of being a President, who emerges from a rigged election, is abhorrent to every fibre of my being. I want to continue to be the President of a Ghanaian people who have given me their free consent, with the blessing of the Almighty,” the President said.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/103.5fm
