Information Minister has said government’s ongoing conversations to ease restrictions are not driven by the interests of the Electoral Commission (EC) nor the National Identification Authority (NIA).

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the development is guided by data and the perspective of health experts with the health of the citizenry at the core of its plan.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Beyond The Lockdown, Mr Nkrumah emphasised that the activities of the said bodies will be guided by the direction of the government going forward.

“I am not too sure that these conversations that we are having necessarily are informed by what the EC or the NIA seek to do. Whatever they do will have to be as a consequence of where we are going.

"So if where we are going says that we are doing Z, Y or Z, all other bodies will have to draw from where we are going,” he said.

His comment follows concerns by a section of the general public and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is conniving with the EC to rig the upcoming compilation of a new voters’ register, an event which was held off following the inception of Covid-19.

The NIA was severely criticised for continuing its Ghana Card registration exercise in the Eastern Region despite the ban on social gatherings without observing social distancing protocols.

But Mr Oppong Nkrumah has ruled out political considerations as far as the possible lifting of restrictions are concerned.

“The President himself has had to suspend his political activities, His regional tours regional tours. I am aware that he had about one of the regional tours slated for about a week or two before the initial lockdown. He had to suspend all of those ones,” the Information Minister said.

He further explained that “politics can wait. Human lives and the economy subsequently will take precedence over politics.”

President Akufo-Addo is expected to, on Sunday night, address the country on measures so far as the May 31 date for an end for his Executive order regarding social gathering restrictions.

Mr Nkrumah said the gradual reversal of these limitations will be done in a manner that does not erode the strides made in containing the impact of Covid-29 in Ghana.

“Don’t be surprised if you hear him [Akufo-Addo] ease some key restrictions,” he said.

Ghana’s Covid-19 case count currently stands at 7,881 with 2,841 recoveries and 36 deaths.