The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Kodua Frimpong, has described the recent ‘Enough is Enough’ demonstration organised by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against the Electoral Commission (EC) as unjustified.
According to him, the NDC has failed to provide any evidence supporting their claims of discrepancies in the provisional voters’ register.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday during an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, Mr. Kodua Frimpong expressed his confusion about the NDC’s delay in submitting evidence regarding the alleged irregularities in the register.
“Many Ghanaians and the NPP cannot comprehend why the NDC has not submitted to the EC detailed information of its so-called irregularities, discrepancies, and unauthorised entries in the provisional voters’ register despite several appeals by the EC,” Mr. Kodua Frimpong said.
He pointed out specific allegations made by the NDC in their petition to the EC, citing that “on page two of their petition to the EC, the NDC stated emphatically that they have uncovered evidence of 243,540 illegal transfers, 3,957 deleted names, as well as over 15,000 unidentified voter transfer cards in the provisional register.”
However, 13 days after the NDC first met with the EC on September 6, 2024, the party has yet to provide any documentation to substantiate their claims. “We ask, is this not interesting?” Mr. Kodua Frimpong questioned, adding that if the NDC truly had evidence of illegal transfers, they should have submitted it by now to allow the EC to correct any discrepancies.
He concluded by stating that the NDC’s nationwide protests would have been more justified had they provided the EC with evidence, and the EC then failed to act.
“We believe strongly that the nationwide demonstration by the NDC would have been justified had the EC failed to act after receiving evidence from the NDC on the alleged irregularities and discrepancies,” Mr. Kodua Frimpong added.
NDC’s Strategic Approach to EC Discrepancies
In contrast, the NDC has explained that they are holding back some of their evidence intentionally as part of a strategic approach. Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, the NDC’s Director of Elections and IT, defended the party’s decision to withhold certain information.
Speaking at the IPAC meeting on October 1, Dr. Boamah revealed that the NDC had already submitted five pieces of evidence to the EC, three of which had been accepted. He noted that the EC provided explanations in instances where certain discrepancies were not accepted, and this selective acceptance has influenced the NDC’s decision to withhold further evidence.
“That is one of the reasons—it is not strategic to provide the Electoral Commission with the full gamut of what we have,” Dr. Boamah stated.
Dr. Boamah also reiterated the NDC’s call for a forensic audit of the voter register and the EC’s IT systems, arguing that such an audit is necessary to guarantee transparency and fairness in the upcoming elections.