The Coalition of 13 political parties in support of the compilation of a new register of voters has said it is fully convinced after an Interparty Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on Wednesday, 27 May 2020 that the Electoral Commission could easily proceed with the compilation of a new electoral roll for the upcoming 2020 general election in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic without increasing the risk of any further spread of the virus across the country.

In spite of over 7,000 recorded cases of infection in Ghana, the EC says it will commence the new registration in June.   

The decision has sparked fears that the 40-day exercise to register over 17 million eligible voters could compromise social-distancing rules, but the coalition of political parties for the new register says all related concerns were adequately tackled during the IPAC meeting which was boycotted by the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Convener of the group and founder of the Liberal Party of Ghana, Kofi Akpaloo, said the nation must learn to move on with life even in the wake of the pandemic.  

“The fact that cases are rising doesn’t mean we are dying ... If you have taken time to look at the number of times accidents on our roads have taken most of our people away, then you will not be talking about COVID-19 because one accident can take away about 30 people or 40 people and from March to this time, how many people have passed away because of COVID-19? Only 34”.

“If you go in there and then you check properly, you’ll see that most of them, they had their own ailments, so, please, me, I’m not here to be afraid of COVID-19. COVID-19 should not stop me and should not stop you from moving forward in life.

“I mean, why are we scared? That is why the EC is promising that they are going to make sure we follow the social-distancing protocols,” Mr Akpaloo told Class News.

The presidential hopeful also urged the NDC and other political parties opposing the compilation of the new electoral roll to rather support the commission to create a more credible register that will produce credible election results.