In my law class 30 years ago, one of the profound doctrines was the Latin expression "Res ispa loquitur," which means the thing speaks for itself; and on that premise, we will leave the good people of Ghana to judge our performance.
These were the words of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensa, as she responded to a question on how the Commission would rate its performance in the just ended mass voter registration exercise.
She was speaking at the eighth edition of the Let the Citizens Know series, a platform created by the EC to engage citizens in the electoral process.
The Commission had projected to register 15 million eligible Ghanaians in the 38-day mass registration exercise but exceeded that target after registering 16,663,669 at the end of the registration on Thursday, August 6.
With a mop-up registration scheduled to take place at the various offices of the Commission on Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9, the figure will shoot up.
Giving that the move by the EC to compile a new register ahead of the December 7, 2020 polls had been met with resistance by some political parties and civil society organizations (CSOs); and that the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) scourge had been an issue of grave concern, many had little or no hope in the ability of the Commission carry out the exercise.
It, therefore, came as refreshing news for the Commission to have scaled that challenge.
And on that solid foundation, Mrs. Mensa reiterated that the successful completion of the mass voter registration exercise was just the beginning of many other transparent processes the EC had put in place for a credible and fair election.
Source: Graphiconline.com
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JEAN MENSAH AND HER TEAM MUST BE PRAISED AS THE BEST EVER PUBLIC INSTITUTION IN AFRICA TO EXHIBIT A TOTAL INDEPENDENCE FROM A WORRYING NUISANCE CONDITIONS. WHAT THEY HAVE ACHIEVED WITHIN THE TWO COVIDS IS MARVELOUS AND JAWBREAKING. COVID ONE WAS THE PANDEMIC WHICH HAS OVERTURNED MANY WORLDS EVENTS UPSIDE DOWN. COVID TWO CONSISTED OF NDC AND SOME MINOR PARTIES LED BY BERNARD MORNAH, BRIGHT SIMON AND SAMPSON CUDJOE LED SO CALLED CIVIL SOCIETIES, AGYEN ASARE LED FAKE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND TOGBE AFEDZI LED STOMACH TRADITIONAL CHIEFS. THIS SECOND COVID WAS EVEN TERRIBLE THAN THE FIRST. YET, JEAN AND HER TEAM HAVE STOOD FIRM AGAINST THE TWO COVIDS AND HAVE SUCCEEDED. BRAVO. AS NDC WERE DETERMINED TO MAR THE REGISTRATION THEY HAVE MANAGED TO GET SOME FOREIGNERS TO REGISTER IN GHANA. BUT WITH THE WORK SO FAR DONE IT WILL BE EASY TO FLUSH THEM OUT. ALL THE EC NEEDS TO DO IS TO CONTACT THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN TOGO, BURKINA FASSO AND IVORY COAST. TO COMPARE NOTES. ALL THE PERSONS WHOSE NAMES ARE FOUND IN THE VOTERS REGISTERS IN THOSE COUNTRIES MUST BE EXPUNGED. THERE SHOULD BE AGREEMENTS AMONG THESE COUNTRIES TO GET SUCH PERSON EXPOSED. THEY MUST BE GIVEN TWO WEEKS TO SUBMIT THEIR CARDS OF THEIR SECOND COUNTRY OR BE EXPUNGED FROM BOTH OF THE ANY OF THE TWO COUNTRIES THEY HAVE REGISTERED. THE POLICE AND IMMIGRATION OFFICERS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WORK TOGETHER TO ARREST CRIMINALS. IT IS TIME NOW FOR ELECTORAL OFFICERS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WORKED TOGETHER TO ELIMINATE CRIMINALS. WE CANNOT BUILD A BETTER AFRICA IF WE DONT COLLABORATE TO FIGHT CORRUPTION AND CRIMINALITY. ALL WHO SPONSOR FAKE CITIZENS MUST BE DEALT WITH ACCORDING TO THE LAW. ANY SUSPICIOUS NAMES AND ADDRESS FOR THE REGISTRATION MUST BE REPORTED TO THE SECURITY AGENCIES FOR INVESTIGATED AND BE DEALT WITH. ALL THE SAME BRAVO FOR THE GOOD WORK DONE. CRITICS LIKE KWAKU ASARE, KWESI PRATT, AND THEIR NDC FRIENDS, AND THE SO CALLED CIVIL SOCIETY WOULD STILL LOOK FOR SOME FAULTS TO CRITICIZED BUT EC MUST STILL KEEP FOCUS ON THE GOOD WORK THEY DO . I MISS WORKING FOR IEA AND IDEG.