The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has alleged that the ongoing Ghana Card registration is part of a grand scheme by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to rig the 2020 elections.
It further alleged that its members are being sidelined in the registration process to acquire the national identification card.
Peter Otokunor, the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, who addressed a press conference, pointed out that a recent arrest of National Identification Authority (NIA) officers caught registering persons at a private residence and past approved hours for the exercise is evidence process is fraught with fraud and irregularities.
“The irregularities are proof the NPP intends to use the acquisition of the Ghana Card as one of its methods towards manipulating and rigging the 2020 elections,” he alleged.
However, rebutting the allegations, Francis Palmdeti, Head of Public Affairs at the NIA, said the registration process for the national ID does not include obtaining applicants’ political affiliation and indicated that NIA will be shooting itself in the foot if there is a deliberate ploy to sideline anybody or group from acquiring the card.
He explained that “because NIA will be dealing with some key user agencies like the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), it stands to make more revenue if its database of Ghanaian nationals is exhaustive.
Mr Otokunor alleged further that in areas such as Akweteyman, Abbosey Okai, Mataheko, where the registration is currently ongoing, NPP officials disguised as NIA personnel deliberately to work and frustrate members of the NDC from acquiring the card and insisted that in some cases, applicants are made to fill the form and asked to come three days later for their biometrics to be taken.
“The end-game in government’s push for a Ghana Card implementation is for the Electoral Commission (EC) to approve the new IDs as a means to get high numbers of NPP members on the electoral roll.
“What we are dealing with is a grand ploy to increase numerical strength of a particular political party firm on using voter ID card to register for Ghana Card in compiling new voter register,” Mr Otokunor cautioned.
According to Mr Palmdeti, there is no document that draws certain roadmap for political agenda or heard or sat in any meeting where grand scheme had been designed.
-myjoyonline.com