A Political Scientist and a fellow at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Dr. John Osae – Kwapong has recommended that the Electoral Commission (EC) makes provision for the use of other official documents aside the ECOWAS Identity Card (also known as Ghana Card) for voter registration.  

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, on Saturday, Dr. Osae – Kwapong said it would be necessary to have some backup plans in the event of unforeseen circumstances because that there are always unpredictable situations in public administration.

“I don’t want the EC to put itself in a box and at least make provision for some backup because again, in public administration, there are always unanticipated situations. So if down along the line you should run into some challenges, at least you would have made provisions to deal with that,” he explained.

The EC has proposed a CI that seeks to make the Ghana Card the sole requirement for registration ad a voter in Ghana.

The Political Scientist hopes that the financial difficulties reportedly facing the National Identification Authority (NIA) in the issuance of the Ghana Card would be solved.

He added that it would be unfortunate that the institution would have to lament financial challenges heading into the election year.

While speaking on the show, the Executive Secretary of the NIA, Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah disclosed that the institution has already registered about 17 million Ghanaians for the Ghana Card. According to him, there are only about 2.5 million people who do not have the card.

These individuals, he said, would take only 6 months to be registered.

Prof. Attafuah explained that the institution has been plagued by financial challenges which he admitted accounted for the inability to provide individuals with the card on time. However, he stressed that the card can only be issued to those who are willing and have made themselves available.

Following controversies on the use of the Ghana card for registration to vote, MP for Bolga East and Former Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine said that the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) concern has to do with the availability of the card for qualified persons to use in voting, adding that 2.5 million people is a significant number when it comes to elections.

“…our issue is the availability of the Card. You are talking about the 2.5 million Ghanaians who have not yet been issued with the Card. ……… 2.5 million people is a significant number, so it means if you disaggregate that figure, it means there’s some who will be eligible to vote and there are some who are minors and will not be able to vote,” he said.

Ghana is one of only 5 countries in Africa that are creating state identification systems using smart ID systems, according to the World Bank.