The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has called on the National Identification Authority (NIA) to hit the ground running with the distribution of the Ghana card.
The group says the Ghana card has been linked to the upcoming voter’s registration process and as such the NIA must deliver on their part.
Speaking with Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Friday, Co-Chair of the coalition Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu said the NIA has become a stakeholder in the electoral process and must work to support the EC.
“I think what we should do now is to put the pressure rather on the NIA to continue its work. The NIA should be able to give us the confidence now that it is fully prepared to go ahead to give the Ghana card to those that have already been registered let’s see the space they will be able to cover with respect to the distribution.
“And then if there is the opportunity for them to go ahead to register people for the NIA, let’s see how far they are able to go and to reduce the number of people who might come on the system”.
He stressed: “I think they have that duty now, they shouldn’t even wait for people to suggest this to them because the Ghana card now has become inexplicably linked with our election. And that makes them part and parcel among stakeholders in the electoral process.
“In fact, they have become so essential. So, they should not even wait for us as CSOs or religious bodies to tell them what to do. They must hit the ground running now so that they can also support the work of the EC for us to all succeed.”
Mr Shaibu noted that Ghana’s democracy must be entrenched because “if we joke, all the accolades we have earned over the decades, we want to go out to the world and to confidently and consistently tell the world that we are leaders in democracy”.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
