The Editor In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baaku has commended president Mills for obeying the Supreme Court ruling which mandated the Electoral Commission to put in modalities in order to allow prisoners to vote in next year’s general elections.

President Mills on Tuesday commissioned the Ankaful Maximum Prison in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem constituency in the Central region where he assured inmates that his administration will ensure they exercise their franchise in the 2012 elections.

The president said “the Supreme Court in a recent ruling stated that inmates have the right to vote during elections and I want to assure them that our government would abide by the Supreme Court ruling and therefore enable the Electoral Commission to put in place the necessary machinery and structures to enable inmates to exercise their God-given rights”.
Speaking on “Good Morning Ghana” programme on Metro TV Kweku Baaku said he is 100 per cent in support of prison inmates voting adding “I go by it 100 per cent. It is progressive and enhances the rule of law”.
He disagreed with those who say the NDC stands to gain if prison inmates are allowed to vote.
According to him, there is no big deal in allowing the prison inmates to vote. The president, he said, “is only committed to the Supreme Court’s ruling and that must be commended”.

On a different platform, the NPP Deputy Communications Director, Sammy Awuku said “even though the 1992 constitution gives prisoners the right for prisoners to vote, it is not a God-given right as President Mills claims”.
He said the president’s posture is nothing but “mere populism that has absolutely no correlation with the issues on the ground. This comes days after the government increased the feeding grant given to prisoners, then, less than a week, the president coming out to make a declaration. It is the sequence of events that is what gives some people the impression that His Excellency and his government may have some ulterior motive”.

He added “let’s us also not forget our brothers and sisters who continue to send down money to their loved ones and family members in the midst of this economic crisis in the country. Let’s not forget them and also grant them their conditionally mandated voting right.”

Francis Xavier Tuokuu/Ghananewslink.com