Mr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) has said there is the possibility of the country having forty more Members of Parliament in 2004.

At a forum organised by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD) on the topic "Preparations Towards Election 2004: Prospects and Challenges", in Accra last week, he said the EC is required by law to review the division of the country into parliamentary constituencies after the figures of a national population census have been published. EC is in the process of doing so in connection with the 2000 population census.

He said according to the 2000 census, the country's current population is about 18.9 million representing an increase of 5.3 million over 1987 figures. He said this clearly indicates that an increase in the number of parliamentarians would be justifiable.

He said the EC has the ultimate responsibility to determine the total number of parliamentarians in the country. However, any increase in the present number of 200 will carry financial implications on the country, so the EC is in consultation with the government, the Council of State and Parliament on the matter. Mr. Afari-Gyan said in accordance with the constitution, President J.A. Kufuor has sent the EC a list of proposed new districts and EC is currently gathering materials on the proposed districts, for the purpose of advising the President on their feasibility.

Speaking on the voters' register, he said every eligible person in the country would have to register afresh and be given a photo ID card within nine months beginning from the third quarter of this year. This decision was taken on the basis of the 2000 population census.

He said an estimate of Ghana's voting age population is 52 percent of the total population and yet, out of the current population of 18.9 million, over eleven million people (58 percent) are on the voters' register. "This means that our register, which was first done in 1995, is currently not in the best of shape," he said.

He said the EC does not believe that the national identity cards covering the entire voting age population of eighteen years and above can be produced in time for the 2004 general elections.

He said the EC is the only body with the responsibility of issuing national identity cards and gave a reminder that the law that gives the EC this responsibility still stands. "The EC would not allow any of its legal functions to be taken over by any person, authority or organisation without the due process," he said. He said under the current electoral law, some Ghanaians living abroad are eligible to register and vote at the country's elections. They include persons who work in Ghana's diplomatic missions and their spouses, persons working with international organisations of which Ghana is a member, students on government scholarships, and members of the Armed Forces and the Police on peacekeeping duties. "So the problem of voting by Ghanaians living abroad has to do with other Ghanaian citizens outside this category who, for one reason or the other, choose to live abroad." Enabling these Ghanaians to vote involves legal issues, and practical administrative issues, he said.

Professor E. Gyimah-Boadi, Executive Director, CDD-Ghana, said Ghana's democratic progress would depend on the improvement in the capacity and credibility of the EC and other governance agencies.

He said the forum is the first in a series of programmes CDD is organising to support the efforts of the EC and other governance agencies to prepare for a credible election in 2004.