A stalwart of the opposition National Democratic Congress says the apparent trouble spots in the country give cause for worry in the run-up to the December 7 polls. Madam Betty Mould Iddrisu, Director of Legal and Constitutional Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat in the UK, cited an avalanche of incidents which she described as “early warning signals” of an unhealthy national record. In an interview with Citi News, she said the fact that this year’s election is considered a decisive one means stakeholders must create an enabling environment for peace to prevail before, during and after the elections. Madam Iddrisu bemoaned the recent limited registration exercise, stressing that the EC cannot be spared as far as the anomalies were concerned. She said the violence associated with the exercise presents a basis for worry, especially when the country has some few days to go to the polls. “The way and manner in which the exercise was conducted, I am led to believe has given rise to very grave concerns. “In fact the Electoral Commissioner himself purportedly said the Electoral Commission [was] unprepared for the vast number of people put before it to register. That is a very strong point of concern that Ghanaians must note,” she stated. The thirteen-day registration exercise which was to record the names of eligible voters in the EC’s voters’ register came with reports of registration of minors and foreigners as well as double registration. While both the ruling New Patriotic Party and the opposition NDC traded accusations over who was masterminding the glitch, the EC only expressed hope of a possible purging in the event of over-bloating. But with reports of violent clashes, especially in northern Ghana, coming on the backs of campaign activities by the two main political parties in the country, Madam Iddrisu said a lot must be done if the country can enjoy peaceful elections. “You cannot have a peaceful, valid election against the backdrop of potential…flash-spots in various parts of the country against the backdrop that people have been deliberately disenfranchised,” she added. International lens Madam Betty Mould said Ghana is now under the international lens being observed on how it conducts itself in the electioneering period. “It is definitely going to mark a turning point in Ghanaian political history and it will be one that the international community I know have already started watching very closely and I am aware that a number of international observers have either started coming or would be coming into the country soon,” she noted. According to the Madam Idrissu Ghana must be a positive example to the rest of Africa by holding a violence-free poll. “I think we need to live up our reputation to have a truly free and fair election, have a peaceful election and so we’ll be able to show the way that, yes, we in fact the leaders on the continent.” Listen to excerpts of interview with Betty Mould-Iddrisu Author: Fiifi Koomson