“Biometric Registration Without Verification Is Useless” NPP Chairman Tells EC.

Mr Alhassan Yakubu Tali Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party[NPP] Germany has stated that the Biometric voter registration exercise will be of no use in the absence of a verification mechanism that will prevent fraud and other electoral malpractices in the 2012 election. He therefore called on the electoral commission to abandon the exercise if the necessary verification mechanism is not put in place to ensure a free, fair and transparent elections. Mr Yakubu Tali who was addressing NPP supporters and sympathisers during the inauguration of the Rhein-Necker Chapter of the party in Ludwigshafen over the weekend explained noted that if the purpose of the Biometric registration exercise is to prevent multiple registration and multiple voting then verification becomes inevitable.”It is not enough to just to have biometric registration if we cannot ensure that the system is verifiable, open, transparent and credible” he added.

He explained that Ghana has come a long way in our democratic experiment and it behoves on all Ghanaians and particularly the electoral commission to put all the necessary measures in place to ensure a free, fair and peaceful elections come 2012.He reminded the EC of their duty and responsibility to the people of Ghana adding that it is totally unacceptable and certainly not in the interest of Ghana for EC to compromise such an important and integral part of the process. On the question of resources,Mr Yakubu Tali told the EC to be forthright in asking government for the needed funding to enable it carry out its constitutionally mandate and reminded Ghanaians that the country cannot afford a repeat of the very flawed and disastrous District Assembly elections of 2010 in 2012”Recent events in the Ivory Coast should provide useful and important lesson for the EC in particular and Ghanaians in general” he concluded Oh his part, Nana Ato Athur former central regional minister, told the cheering crowd that the Mills-Mahama administration has failed to meet the basic needs of the people and Ghanaians are getting poorer with each passing day, pointing out that water, electricity, gas and fuel have all become luxuries under the NDC government. The situation is further worsened by the very high cost of living in the country and the inability of government to provide leadership, direction and hope for millions of Ghanaians. Nana Ato Arthur who is also the NPP Parliamentary candidate for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem[KEEA] constituency,said the Mills-Mahama administration has in the past three years demonstrated that they are incapable of running a country .This is evidenced by their dismal record saying that the numerous industrial unrests and mass protests across the country is a clear indication of the ineptitude and incompetence that has characterised the NDC government under Professor Mills he insists Nana Ato Arthur pointed out the numerous social intervention programmes initiated by the NPP government under President Kuffour such as the school feeding programme, capitation grant, national youth employment programme, national health insurance scheme, affordable housing programme have either been abandoned or are on the edge of collapsing.”Ghanaians have realised, it was a make to have voted for the NDC and are now clamouring for the NPP to come back in 2012” he said. He stressed that NPP under Nana Akuffo-Addo is the only party in Ghana today that has the right policies and programmes to move the country forward and said an Akuffo-Addo Presidency will continue the good policies President Kuffour while initiating new and innovative policies and programmes that will modernise agriculture, make education accessible and relevant. Earlier in a welcome address, Mr Akwasi Opoku Adusei, secretary of the Rhein-Necker chapter of NPP disclosed that the party has launched an intensive membership drive campaign and said members are being mobilised to travel to Ghana not just to register to vote but to assist the party in the election campaign. Mr Opoku Adusei stressed the importance of the 2012 elections in the history of Ghana and urged Ghanaians in diaspora to make their voices heard by travelling to Ghana to register to vote saying “No amount is too much to pay and no sacrifice is too great to make to ensure that the right leader is elected and democracy strengthened”

Kwaku Anane-Gyinde

Germany