A former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, says the Electoral Commission (EC) must be forthright and come out with the real number of people on the electoral roll who registered with National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards.
She said the EC must also take the necessary steps to delete the names of such people from the voters register as ordered by the Supreme Court.
“You and I know it is not 56,000 that registered with NHIS cards. It is far more than that. They should just abide by what the Supreme Court is saying. I think this will make all Ghanaians happy and it will also help us to have some level of equity and justice within the electoral system.”
“The Supreme Court is the highest court of the land and when it speaks all must obey. If the court has said certain things must be done in eliminating all those who registered with NHIS cards, it should be done,” she said.
The former First Lady, who is also the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party (NDP), was speaking to the media after a thanksgiving service at the Accra Ridge Church yesterday.
The party used the service to show appreciation to the almighty God for its successful congress held in May this year.
Controversy
The presidential aspirant’s comment comes on the heels of the controversy surrounding the country’s electoral roll especially with regard to persons who registered with NHIS cards.
With less than five months to the general election, the credibility of the voters register is being contested at the Supreme Court.
The court in a May 5, 2016 judgement ordered the EC to take steps to delete the names of all those who registered with NHIS cards from the electoral roll.
Dissatisfied with the method adopted by the EC to comply with the order, Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako, the plaintiffs in the suit that led to the judgement, filed an application at the court seeking clarification and further direction on the judgement.
In view of this, the apex court ordered the EC to furnish it with the list of all those who registered with NHIS cards and how it intended to comply with the order.
The EC presented 56,739 names to the court last Wednesday, but the applicants described the list as dubious.
According to them, the number should be in the millions and not tens of thousands as presented by the EC.
The court will rule on the application tomorrow.
“Look at your circumstance”
Speaking on the upcoming election, Mrs Rawlings advised Ghanaians to look at their present conditions and vote for those who would bring change to their lives.
She said the most important determinant that people must consider was what would help the country.
“Every Ghanaian must look at his or her circumstance, where they want the country to get to and how they want to live in the country before going out to cast his or her vote.”
An NDP government, she said, would empower people to pursue endeavours to improve their lives.
“Ghanaians must vote for the NDP because we want to encourage the grass roots to be empowered. We want empowerment to work and the NDP is a party that will change things for the better,” she said.
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