EC stance on minors is problematic – Tony Aidoo

EC stance on minors is problematic - Tony Aidoo

Dr Wereko-Brobby

Dr. Tony Aidoo, the Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation at the Presidency, has criticized EC Chairman Dr. Afari Gyan for announcing that the EC cannot expunge the names of minors in the newly created biometric register before the election.

Gyan also said that the only way to prevent minors from voting is to dissuade them from doing so.

Aidoo called these comments worrying. Speaking on Decision 2012, a new pre-election programme hosted by Paul Adom Otchere on Joy FM, the NDC firebrand said, “there are constitutional criteria for Ghanaians to be entitled to vote. To be entitled to vote, you must be 18 and above and of sane minds…but you must be registered. The Electoral Commissioner has a responsibility to register only those who are qualified to be registered.”

“In this regard, having detected that minors have registered and being convinced by the photographic evidence that they are minors, I think Dr. Afari Gyan should have taken steps to get to these minors, either bring them to the Commission or take the unilateral action by expunging their names.”

Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, another guest on the show, also criticized the EC for flouting a law mandating that copies of the biometric register be made available to the political parties.

With just over a week to go before the elections, he reported, the EC is yet to provide the political parties with the biometric registers of four regions.

This, he explained, is unacceptable, and it nearly prompted him to take the matter to court.