Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Otokunor has charged the Electoral Commission to heed to the calls of Ghanaians against compiling a new voters’ register.

In an interview on Joy News’ Top Stories on Monday, Mr Otokunor indicated that the interest of the people surpasses the power of any institution, therefore, if calls have been made to halt the processes it must be respected.

“The point is, no constitutional mandate surpasses the mandate and the voice of the people. The power that has been given to the EC and even the President belongs to the people.

“So everything in the interest of the people runs supreme to any power that has been given to any institution,” he stated.

The Deputy General-Secretary then said the Commission should not act like ‘gods’ since the mandate they have was given to them by the citizens.

“We gave them the power which got them into office. So if the people are saying that this is not in their interest, you [the Electoral Commission] have to listen,” he was categorical.

Mr Otokunor further noted that, for an election to be transparent and peaceful, the EC must engage all parties, particularly in decisions as critical as compiling a new voters register.

“To have a very peaceful election and for us to build the integrity of our electoral process, it requires multi-party engagement including the EC,” he stated.

The Electoral Commission in December petitioned Parliament to approve GH¢444,846,663 for the compilation of a new voters’ register arguing that fingers cannot be read on the old register. That has been done.

However, the NDC has refused to back the decision. 

This has led to the formation of a group named The Interparty Resistance against the New voters’ register which is planning to embark on a demonstration against the EC’s decision to create a new electoral roll for the 2020 general election

The group which is mainly made up of opposition parties like the NDC, All People’s Congress (APC) and People’s National Convention (PNC) said they are unconvinced by the EC’s defence for the creation of a new register.

Commenting on this, Mr Otokunor was optimistic that by the end of the series of demonstrations to be embarked nationwide, the electoral commission would have withdrawn its decision.

“We are going to get them to listen and we believe this resistance is going to achieve results.”