In a scenario of mother or wife who to save in a dire moment, had left the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with a difficult situation to let go of its relief that seek to challenge the eligibility of the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new Voter Register.

The party has now be left with the other leg of its reliefs – that is challenging why the EC was excluding the current voter identification card.

NDC by its legal representative Godwin E. Tamakloe took the decision after been urged by the seven members on bench to do so on behalf of his client.

This was after the Godwin Esq prayed the court to be given an opportunity to consult with his client on the matter.

Making his oral arguments before court presided over by Chief Justice Anin today, indicated that the defendants had not provided any legal basis to support their claim of refusing the use of the current Voter ID Card.

He said the training manual that the EC made reference to instead of the Constitutional Instrument (CI), had no legal backing.

In the NDC’s case the EC has no legal basis to exclude the use of existing voter ID cards for the purposes of registration and that should this Court allow the EC to deny Ghanaian citizens the use of their existing voter ID cards for registration.

Per the argument Mr Tamakloe raised, the move of the EC would impair the right of citizens to register and vote, as a basic right guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution.

His line of argument furthered that it would be a dent on the gains made by the Court in giving life and meaning to Article 42 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, the EC, which the bench said must be made the first defendant rather than the Attorney General in the case since it is independent, put out a defence that it was not allowing the existing voter identification cards to be used in the upcoming voter registration exercise because it was compiled in 2012 pursuant to CI 72 and revised by a limited registration exercises Superior Court termed it as not being reasonably credible.  

Lawyer for the EC, Justin Amenuvor in his response to the Supreme Court order to furnish it with their reason for excluding the voter ID card, raised the point that “it found a fundamental omission in its training manual and the manner in which the voter registration exercise was carried out in 2012 partly in breach of its own binding CI 72 and also in breach of Article 42 of the constitution.”

One other reason he stated to the court was the Commission wanted a break from the past to remedy all the carried on ineligibilities, excesses and breaches of Article 42 as the existing cards have become fruits of a “poisoned tree”.

This was as it will be in continuous breach of article 42 of the constitution, to totally disregard this Honourable Court’s own judgment to continue using the existing cards and it is in contravention of Section 8(1) of Act 750 (as amended) for the EC to accept the existing voter identification cards as a means of proving citizenship for the compilation of the new register.

The Commission submitted Section 8(1) of Act 750 (as amended), which effectively excludes the existing voter identification card as a form of identification for the purposes of proving citizenship.

It is the considered opinion of the EC that to accept any form of identification, including the existing voter identification cards, which is not provided for under Section 8(1) Act 750 (as amended) as a means of proving identification for the compilation of the new register will be in contravention of statute.

Deputy Attorney General Godfred Yeboah-Dame told the court they have provided evidence to why the Commission was tolling the path that it has declared before the court.

Other Justices on the panel were Jones Dotse, Paul Baffoe Bonnie, Nasiru Sule Gbadegbe, Samuel K. Marfo-Sau, Nene Amegatcher and Prof AshieKotey.

The final hearing had scheduled to June 23, 2020.

By Akutu Dede  Adimer