EC boss, Jean Mensa
As
the reality of the compilation of a new voters’ register dawns on the
opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party is said to be considering
fresh options from its rulebook.
A
series of meetings have already been held by the highest echelon of the party towards
the effective application of the Machiavelli-inclined strategies, the security
of which engagements has already been compromised even before takeoff.
Last
weekend saw the activation of one of the strategies—massive misinformation through social media by
and large.
First Shot
The
first shot has been fired about a so-called smuggling into the country of a
number of faulty Biometric Registration Devices (BRDs).
One
of the recruited hatchet men and author of the so-called smuggling of BRDs, Owula
Mangotey, has suffered a setback as the Electoral Commission (EC) describes his
story as a figment of his imagination, for which reason it should be
disregarded.
He
alluded to vehicles arriving with the devices from Nigeria and having parked
for a while at the Osu Castle, they proceeded at an hour after midnight towards
the EC headquarters.
This
heralds the series of misinformation and image-smear campaign under the Plan B
the NDC has adopted after its stillborn efforts to kill the compilation of a
new voters’ register.
EC Rebuttal
A
statement from the EC pointed out that Owula Mangotey, who claims to be writing
from Odumase-Dodowa, is only throwing dust into the eyes of the public and
should be disregarded. The commission denied importing any such equipment and
warned the public to be ‘wary of such dangerous elements who peddle falsehood
to misinform’.
The
commission has, therefore, called on the security agents to investigate the
matter.
Persol Lies
The
EC was constrained to earlier deny an impression created by NDC elements that
Persol Systems Limited, the company contracted by the commission for the
construction of the new Production and Disaster Recovery Data Centre, was owned
by the chairperson’s husband.
So puerile was the allegation that when it was
released on social media, it triggered derision among readers rather than the
intended opprobrium against the EC chairperson and the commission.
It did not take long for Ghanaians to find out
that the chairperson and her husband had no links with Persol as the NDC wanted
to impress upon the public, especially when the commission directed curious
persons to establish the ownership of Persol from the Registrar General’s
Department.
EC Statement
“In the lead up to the general election in
December, the EC is mindful of the fact that there will be attempts by sections
of the society to malign the integrity and credibility of the chairperson, her
deputies and the commission,” an EC statement which clearly shows that the commission
is aware of many of such machinations coming up.
RegistrationInfiltration
DAILY
GUIDE has learnt about how
the NDC elements, as part of the strategies, intend pushing their activists or
foot-soldiers seeking temporary employment as biometric registration personnel
for the EC as part of their strategies.
Some
NDC social media platforms have started encouraging party members to throw
themselves into the temporary biometric registration employment of the EC.
Subtle Admission
It
is a subtle admission by the party that the series of protests have failed to
cow the EC into submission to abandon the new voters’ roll project.
The
temporary employment opportunity the party election strategists hope should
enable them to push as many of their supporters as possible to go out and
register.
Creating Rumpus
This
alongside creating rumpus at registration centres known to be ruling New Patriotic
Party (NPP) strongholds will electrify some locations.
With
no shortage of tricks from their rulebook, some of the traits of the previous registration
exercises which ended up contaminating the current register would be played out to the maximum, DAILY GUIDE has learnt
from an inside source.
Frontier Duties
Ghana
Immigration Service (GIS) personnel on frontier duties should be ready for an
unusual influx of nationals from neighbouring countries during the exercise, a
trend which could set such security officials on a collision course with NDC
officials in the border areas.
A
2020 election without the ‘time-tested current voters register would not inure
to our interest’ an NDC member was reported to have said at a Plan B crisis
meeting in the wake of the reality that a new voters’ register would be
compiled.
With
the announcement of a timetable for the commencement of a fresh biometric
registration exercise by the EC against the backdrop of two demonstrations so
far, the NDC members, now crestfallen, have palpably resigned to their fate.
Bloody Campign
Yamoah
Ponkoh, a leading member of the party in the Ashanti Region, has already
announced a rough campaign season.
With
the planned series of demonstrations nowhere near clinching the objective for
the NDC, the Director of Elections of the party, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, must be
disappointed in the bastion presented by the EC against the acts of abrasion.
The
elections director had earlier advised against other
options in favour of demonstrations.
Last
week, he said the ‘posture’ of the EC is injurious to democracy, a direct
reaction to the commission’s plans to go ahead to compile a fresh voters’ roll.
IPAC Meeting
An
Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) is scheduled for month-end, DAILY
GUIDE has learnt.
A ‘wounded NDC’ would deny the engagement of any meaningful outcome as it turns the place into a verbal arena.
By A.R. Gomda