Yawa! Angry KTU Lecturer Disassociates Himself From the List of 100 Lecturers opposing the New Voters register

Angry KTU Lecturer Disassociates From Letter To EC

Angry KTU Lecturer Disassociates Himself From the List of 100 Lecturers opposing the New Voters register: A lecturer at the Koforidua Technical University (KTU), Dr. Benjamin Kwofie of the Computer Science department has dissociated himself from a letter written by some 101 lecturers to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC), signed as a group of Concerned Lecturers from Ghanaian Universities against the compilation of a new voters’ register by the Electoral Commission.

According to the letter sigthed by Peacefmonline and addressed to the Vice Chancellor of the University, he wishes to state clearly that he knows nothing about the group, their intentions or purpose of existence.

He has therefore asked the Technical University to investigate and issue a disclaimer dissociating the institution and its innocent members from such an action.

Dr. Benjamin Kwofie’s name was the 99th on the list.

But he denies knowledge of the content of the letter.

“I am not privy to the content of the said letter nor am I party to their agenda,” he stated.

“I believe my name has been brought into national disrepute, an unfortunate situation for the image of this institution, and to worsen matters, the name of the insitution was appended to my name.

“I wish to call on your noble offce to investigate this matter, issue a disclaimer in a press release and write to the Electoral Commission of this country dissociating the institution and its innocent members from such an action,” he added

Concerned University Lecturers Opposes Compilation

The Concerned University Lecturers, Ghana (CULG), a group comprised of over 100 public university lecturers have kicked against the decision of the Electoral Commission to compile a new voters’ register for the upcoming elections.

In an open letter to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the group said It is worried about the decision to compile a new voter’s register given that the country’s constitutionally scheduled Presidential and Parliamentary elections are six months away.

According to the group, there is no evidence to suggest that the existing register which has used to conduct several elections, including the 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections and the District Assembly Elections in 2019, cannot be updated and used for the 2020 elections.

They contend that there is the likelihood that any process of voter registration will defeat the principles of social distancing introduced to curb the spread of the Coronavirus.

Bigger worries

The group said it was even more worried about the EC’s decision to limit registration eligibility requirements to passports and Ghana cards as this would disenfranchise nine million Ghanaians.

Parlament Passes C.I. 126

Parliament by a majority decision, 106 – 92 has approved the recommendation of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee to adopt its report on the Constitutional Instrument (C.I. 126).

This CI gives legal backing to the Electoral Commission’s (EC) plans to compile a new voter’s register.

The C.I. 126, which makes the Ghana Card and the Ghanaian passport the only legal identification documents for registering people in the new biometric voters’ register.

Compilation of new register

The Electoral Commission has scheduled June 30, 2020, to begin the compilation of the new voters’ register.

A letter sighted by Peacefmonline and signed by the Deputy Chairman, Corporate Services, Dr. Bossman E. Asare to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) said “This letter comes to inform you that the 2020 Voters Registration Exercise has been scheduled to commence on Tuesday, the 30th of June, 2020. The registration will be held at all Registration Centres and District Offices of the Electoral Commission throughout the country.”

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is yet to decide on the case.

See his letter attached

–: PeaceFMonline.com