General News of Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Source: peacefmonline.com

Will Ghana collapse if no registration exercise is held? - Pratt questions EC

Kwesi Pratt Jnr. is Editor-in-Chief of the Insight newspaper Kwesi Pratt Jnr. is Editor-in-Chief of the Insight newspaper

Editor-in-Chief of Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has slammed the Electoral Commission (EC) for refusing to postpone or cancel the voters' registration exercise.

The EC commenced the new voters' registration exercise on Tuesday, June 30 despite opposition to stop the exercise.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) filed a lawsuit against the EC but the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the electoral management body empowering it to conduct the registration exercise amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

In spite of the EC's assurances to Ghanaians that it will enforce the COVID-19 safety protocols, Ghana's case count keeps increasing.

The country's case count has risen to over 25,000 and over 21,000 people have been declared recovered or discharged and 139 people have unfortunately lost their lives.

There are however consistent calls on the EC to call off the ongoing registration exercise.

Kwesi Pratt is also unhappy with the seemingly adamant posture of the EC, asking why the Commission wants to risk the lives of Ghanaians all in the name of compiling a new voters' register.

"If we had not conducted this voter registration exercise, would Ghana collapse?" he questioned.

He appealed for the registration exercise to be possibly canceled to protect Ghanaians against the deadly disease.

"This pandemic disease has spread across the nation and we are saying we should go and register irrespective. When you oppose it, they will say you don't want to register but you will go and vote during the elections. Why? If we don't do the register but only go and vote, you have minimized the risk maybe by more than 50%. So, minimizing the risk is also important'', he said on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo'.