What is happening to our democracy? – CHRAJ boss criticizes untouchable Supreme Court, EC

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The Electoral Commission (EC) has been made to seem invincible, according to Joseph Whittal, Commissioner of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

Whittal highlighted at a program earlier this week that the EC has felt too empowered to create its regulations as it sees right as a result of recent rulings by the Supreme Court, even going so far as to occasionally challenge Parliament.

“Why should on institution be given so much power, aided by the Supreme Court; because of the interpretation the Supreme Court has given in a number of election matter that have come before them, practically making the EC untouchable so that they can even have the temerity to go before parliament and say Parliament cannot determine what we do.

“I mean, where is our democracy going?” he asked rhetorically.

Whittal highlighted the Abu Ramadan case earlier in his argument, where former Chief Justice Georgina Wood stressed the importance of voter registration over the right to vote.

“The EC ought not to put impediments in the way of the registration of Ghanaians who have to register in order to exercise their right to vote,” he said, adding, “Georgina Woode calls it the Golden Key that unlocks the power of the people.”

Controversy surrounding limited registration exercise

Following its decision to conduct limited registration drives countrywide at only district offices, the Electoral Commission has been under significant pressure.

Opposition parties and think tanks are among those who claim that doing so will disenfranchise a large number of residents of remote locations.

The EC responded in a radio broadcast on September 19 through Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, the Commission’s Director of Electoral Services.

“For those in hard-to-reach areas, we are only appealing to them to find a way to get to the district offices for the registration. Otherwise, they would have to wait for next year.

“But even next year, we can’t be everywhere. It will depend on situations on the ground in terms of figures. Because we won’t say that, because we have to serve hard-to-reach areas, we will send our tools to just three people in a particular area.”

“So, we will work with the stakeholders to be sure that a place is indeed hard-to-reach, and that we have people there before we move. That will be a form of mopping because we are still going to maintain the district office registration and there will be continuous registration,” he noted.

The EC’s decision to not conduct registration in electoral areas this year is being legally challenged by opposition parties, but the Commission is moving forward with the exercise.

The difficulty in decentralizing the registration procedure was partially attributed by the chairwoman of the EC, Mrs. Jean Mensa, to Parliament’s refusal to approve the proposed Constitutional Instrument C.I.

As you are all aware, the Commission drafted a draft C.I for continuous registration at all district offices around the country, Mrs. Mensa said. The registration we were expecting under the draft C.I. was on a sustained, long-term basis when this endeavor first began last year.

Source:Radiooneghana.com