General News of Tuesday, 19 December 2017
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2017-12-19
Eric Kofi Dzapkasu, Communication Director of the Electoral Commission
The Communication Director of the Electoral Commission (EC) says they welcome the Accra High Court’s ruling to allow Ghanaians abroad to vote.
Eric Kofi Dzapkasu said the ruling only reinforces an existing law and strengthens the plans of the Commission towards the execution of the Representation of the People’s Amendment Law (ROPAL) process.
“The EC already has its strategic plans in place in 2020 and one of the main goals in that plan is to ensure that ROPAL can be part of our electoral process,” he told Evans Mensah on Newsnight Tuesday.
He said that it is the vision of the EC to roll out ROPAL just like other major electoral reforms they are considering.
Mr Dzakpasu added that they will need the input of the major stakeholders; the political parties, civil society, and government to succeed.
His comment is in response to the Accra High Court ruling directing the Commission to operationalise the law in 2020 following a suit by some five Ghanaians living abroad.
Although the law was passed in 2006, the EC has given several excuses why it was impossible to implement at the time.
But the Director of Communication assured that the challenges with finances will be dealt with when all stakeholders agree on the model to be implemented.
“When we have all the fine details of the blueprint and it is approved by everybody, then we will come to the issue of finance. It is a law which has been there which came with a caveat, which has run all this period.
“Now the court has ruled and the law has been reinforced and it has also strengthened our position and coincided with the plans of the EC to make sure it works out,” he said.
Mr Kofi Dzakpasu said just like any major electoral reform, the Commission needs the consensus of everyone to get it going.
