Bawah Mogtari Replies EC Director Over Voters Register Audit.

The spokesperson for the campaign team of the National Democratic Congress-NDC Flagbearer John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, has criticized the Deputy Director of the EC in charge of Operations, Mr Samuel Tetteh for his comments to the effect that “plants are animals were in the 2016 voters register”.

Madam Mogtari in a post on her X on Friday, September 13, 2024, stated that the comments made by Mr Samuel Tetteh of the Electoral Commission of Ghana are very disrespectful.

She added that his statement validates the NDC’s position that the provisional voter register for the 2024 general elections is full of irregularities, including illegal voter transfers. In the words of Madam Mogtari, it is completely unacceptable to hear a representative of the EC making such childish statements. It tells you that the NDC is spot on and we need an audit of the register to avoid manipulation and fraud by the EC she said.

Mr Samuel Tetteh in a press conference in Accra yesterday September 12, 2024, rejected a call by the NDC for a forensic audit of the 2024 provisional voter register. He referenced supposed errors in the 2016 provisional register stating that the voter exhibition exercise conducted by the EC is a way of editing the voter register.

He mentioned that the NDC had been reviewing the provisional voters register in previous years and they could have discovered that pictures of plants and animals were used for some individuals in the 2016 provisional register. According to him, it is the belief of the Commission that, the Voters’ exhibition exercise in itself is an audit. The exhibition offers an avenue for auditing the register. It unearths discrepancies and allows for prescribed legal processes to correct them.

The EC Director continued to state that, perhaps this is the first time the NDC has taken an interest in the register, otherwise one would have expected them to call for such an audit of the 2016 register which contained photos of animals and plants representing voters. It is important to note that, contrary to the call by the NDC, the voter register has never been audited since 1992 Mr Samuel Tetteh said.

Joyce Bawah Mogtari criticized the Deputy Director of Operations at the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, Samuel Tetteh, over his remarks concerning irregularities in the voters’ register. Mr Tetteh’s statement that “plants and animals were in the 2016 voters’ register” has sparked sharp criticism from the NDC, with Mogtari describing his comments as disrespectful and unprofessional.

In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on September 13, 2024, Mogtari expressed her disappointment with the EC official’s remarks, accusing him of trivializing serious concerns raised by the NDC. According to her, the statement about “plants and animals” being present in the 2016 voters’ register as a response from the Director is inappropriate and validates the NDC’s longstanding concerns about irregularities in the provisional voter register for the 2024 elections. These irregularities, she said, include the illegal transfer of voter registrations and other discrepancies that could undermine the credibility of the electoral process.

Mogtari further criticized Tetteh’s comments as “childish” and inappropriate for an official representing the Electoral Commission, a body tasked with ensuring the integrity of Ghana’s electoral system. She argued that such comments reflect poorly on the EC’s leadership and lend credence to the NDC’s belief that there are significant flaws in the current voters’ register that need to be addressed through a comprehensive forensic audit. The NDC, she said, has consistently demanded an audit to ensure that the register is free from errors and manipulations that could compromise the fairness of the elections.

Taking a swipe at the leadership of the EC, Mogtari also raised concerns about the tenure of former EC Chairperson Charlotte Osei, questioning how such irregularities could have occurred under her watch. She suggested that the alleged presence of plants and animals in the 2016 voters’ register was indicative of poor leadership at the time, further fueling the NDC’s call for greater scrutiny of the EC’s operations. Mogtari’s remarks reflect the party’s broader concerns about the transparency and credibility of the electoral process as the nation prepares for the 2024 general elections.

On the other side, Samuel Tetteh, during a press conference in Accra on September 12, 2024, sought to downplay the NDC’s concerns by rejecting their calls for a forensic audit of the 2024 provisional voter register. Tetteh defended the Electoral Commission’s processes, explaining that the voter exhibition exercise conducted by the EC serves as an avenue for auditing the register. He pointed out that the exhibition allows for the identification and correction of discrepancies through legally prescribed processes, which, in his view, makes a separate forensic audit unnecessary.

Tetteh also referenced past issues with the 2016 voters’ register, highlighting the fact that the NDC had not called for an audit of that register, despite similar problems being identified at the time. He noted that pictures of plants and animals were allegedly used to represent some voters in the 2016 provisional register, a point he used to illustrate that the current NDC calls for an audit are inconsistent with their actions in previous election cycles. According to Tetteh, the EC believes that the voter exhibition exercise itself constitutes an audit, as it exposes any errors or discrepancies that may exist in the register and provides an opportunity to rectify them.

Tetteh further emphasized that the NDC’s sudden interest in auditing the voters’ register raises questions, given that the register has never been audited since the inception of Ghana’s Fourth Republic in 1992. He asserted that the EC’s established processes, including the exhibition exercises, are sufficient to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the voters’ register.

The dispute between the NDC and the Electoral Commission reflects the broader context of political tension in Ghana as the 2024 general elections approach. The NDC has repeatedly raised concerns about the credibility of the electoral process, accusing the EC of failing to adequately address issues such as illegal voter transfers, the inclusion of non-citizens on the voters’ roll, and other alleged manipulations that could affect the outcome of the elections. The party has insisted that a forensic audit of the provisional voters’ register is essential to ensuring that the upcoming elections are free and fair.

For the Electoral Commission, the challenge lies in maintaining public trust in the electoral process while managing the demands of political parties. The EC’s decision to reject the NDC’s call for an audit could further escalate tensions, as the opposition party continues to push for greater oversight and transparency in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. The NDC’s concerns about potential irregularities in the voters’ register are likely to remain a central issue in the political discourse, especially as the stakes are high in an election that is expected to be closely contested.