4 days ago
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The opposition National Democratic Congress has re-enforced the need for a multi stakeholder examination of the Electoral Commission (EC)’s IT system to address the issues it has identified.
The party after a marathon Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting in Accra on Tuesday, said it has become glaringly apparent that the IT system of the Commission was vulnerable and susceptible to data manipulation.
• Mrs Jean Mensa, EC boss
“The NDC demands a multi-stakeholder and interparty examination of the IT system of the Electoral Commission with the aim of addressing the vulnerabilities that the EC itself has admitted to, which vulnerabilities led to several of the anomalies we have raised,” the NDC said in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey.
Director of IT at the Commission, Dr Yaw Ofori-Adjei, admitted at the IPAC that the IT system of the Commission is vulnerable making it possible for the unsolicited transfer of some voters.
He, however, assured that the Commission was taking steps to block the loopholes that allowed officers of the Commission to undertake the transfers.
But the NDC said an all-hands-on-deck approach was needed to permanently fix the IT system to avoid future exploitation.
“Clearly, the vulnerabilities in the IT system of the Electoral Commission can be exploited by criminals to compromise the integrity of the December 7, 2024 elections if not addressed,” the party stated after a Functional Executive Committee meeting.
On their call for an audit of the voters register, the party said it would wait on the EC to receive the register within a week as promised by the EC to make a final decision.
“The NDC has deliberated and decided to accept the EC’s promise to release to political parties, the corrected/updated version of the 2024 Provisional Voters Register for scrutiny within one week.”
The party welcomed the decision by the Electoral Commission to re-exhibit the updated Provisional Voters’ Register but however recommend that the re-exhibition exercise be conducted online and offline at the exhibition centres.
The IPAC meeting was called by the EC to brief the political parties on the progress made in addressing the errors identified by the NDC.
Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, told the meeting that the concerns of the NDC have largely been resolved, assuring that the December 7, 2024 poll would be transparent.
“We assure you and the good people of Ghana, we are working tirelessly to ensure that the 2024 Election is free, fair, credible and transparent.
“As the body mandated by Article 45 (a) of the 1992 Constitution to compile the register of voters and to revise it at such periods as may be determined by law, we urge you to trust us to perform our functions as enshrined in the Constitution,” Mrs Mensa assured.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
