Member of Parliament (MP) for Efutu Constituency in the Central Region, Alexander Afenyo Markin, has lauded the Electoral Commission (EC) for extending the re-registration of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card holders whose names were deleted.

“Let me commend the Electoral Commission because they have acted in good faith,” he told Joy News.

The EC at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting of all active political parties announced the extension of the period for the re-registration of NHIS registrants whose names were deleted following Supreme Court (SC)’s ruling in a case challenging the credibility of the voters register. 

A former National Youth Organiser of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako sued the EC over the credibility of the voters’ register which they claim is incapable of ensuring fairness in the upcoming December polls.

The SC ordered the deletion of persons who registered in 2012 using unapproved identity cards. The Commission proceeded to delete over 56,772 NHIS registrants and gave ten (10) days for victims to get back into the register.

At the end of the exercise, 24,287 persons registered out of the over 56,772 deleted names. This led to calls by sections of Ghanaians for the Commission to extend the period since it was merely complying with SC’s order.

Mr Markin threatened legal action against the EC saying more than 3,000 deleted NHIS registrants of his constituents out of the total 5,200 deleted were unable to re-register due to logistic challenges.

The EC had initially declined calls for the exercise to be extended, but it disclosed to the political parties that the process will be extended for a period of seven (7) days beginning Friday, August 5 to 12, 2016.

Welcoming the news, the Efutu MP says his threat to visit court action on the Commission was to afford it the opportunity to do the right thing.

He cautioned the Commission, to instead of focusing on the limited extension period, be interested in how to retool the various registration centers in terms of registration kits which denied many people the opportunity to register during phase one of the re-registration period.

“I am not just interested in extension but I more particularly interested in how they are able to resolve the logistical problems that experienced in the phase one of the re-registration,” he said. “My particular concern is the mode of registration.”