The Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council have asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling on the voter’s register.

The two bodies argued considering the limited months the nation has to the November 2016 polls, the EC has to expedite action to ensure the electoral register is cleaned as directed by the Apex court.

A joint communiqué issued after a meeting in Accra said the EC must rid the register of persons who registered with the National Health Insurance Cards.

In what has largely been considered a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court on May 5, 2016, ordered the Electoral Commission to take immediate steps to delete names of unqualified person from the register and give them another opportunity to register using lawful means.

This follows a previous ruling by the court in a case brought by a former National Youth Organiser of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Abu Ramadan, in which the court ruled that NHIS card could not be sufficient proof of citizenship.

Speaking to Joy news, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr Opuni Frimpong said “So far as the EC has not given us any impression to believe that it doesn’t understand the Supreme Court’s ruling, it has to implement it.”

He believes the current misunderstanding emanating from the interpretation of the SC’s ruling in the country is attributable to the public pronouncement of some lawyers which he described as unfortunate.

According to him, “If the EC understands what the Supreme Court has asked it to do then as the ruling said immediately, it has to do so.”

Without mincing words, the clergyman said “We want to see that happening. We are close to the election.”

The Christian groups also expressed their misgivings about the recent increases in the prices of major staples such as Cassava and Plantain saying they threaten the food security of the nation.

They, therefore, called on the government to stop paying lip service to post-harvest processing and provide pragmatic policies and programmes to address some of the issues that threaten the food security of the country.