The C.I. when passed by Parliament will enable the people of the Guan Constituency, which comprises Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL) Traditional Areas, to vote in the 2024 parliamentary election to have a representation in the next Parliament on January 7, 2025.

Guan Constituency

 The Director of Electoral Services of the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, who made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, said all stakeholder engagements for the creation of the constituency had been concluded.

He said the people of SALL had agreed that the name of the constituency should be Guan and the capital Likpe-Mate, the same as the district and the capital.

The people of SALL in the 2020 general election voted in the presidential election but could not take part in the parliamentary election as there was not enough time for the EC to place the C.I. before Parliament for the creation of the constituency.

Dr Quaicoe said this time round, all the preparations needed, including the engagements and pre-laying stage had been concluded and when Parliament resumed sitting, the 21 days required would be met for the C.I for the creation of the Guan constituency to be passed by December 2023. 

That, he said, would enable the people of SALL to vote in the 2024 parliamentary election to have a representation in Parliament.

Throwing some light on the reason the people of SALL could not vote in the parliamentary election in 2020, Dr Quaicoe said although the Guan district assembly was created in November 2020, there was not enough time for the EC to place the C.I before Parliament prior to the general election in December.

“Because of this, the constituency was unable to come into full force, leaving the people without a parliamentary vote and subsequently representation,” he said.

“Let us also understand that once you are creating a constituency, you have to pass a C.I to establish it. And every C.I should be before Parliament for 21 sitting days before it can pass. 
So automatically if you establish a district in November, there’s no way you can have the 21 days passing before. That’s why they couldn’t vote for the parliamentary. But the presidential, they voted,” Dr Quaicoe explained.

Voter exhibition exercise

Dr Quaicoe said every district had a unique code and therefore the Guan District would be given a new code.
Consequently, the Director of Electoral Services said the people of SALL had to be issued with new voter ID cards with a new code, saying the new cards had been printed and sent to the EC district office for collection.

He added that the remaining cards if not collected would be sent to the polling stations during the upcoming nationwide voter exhibition exercise that would take place on November 3 to 9, 2023 across the 38,622 polling stations for the people to go and cross check their names on the register during which the people of SALL would go with their old voter ID cards for the new ones.  

Background 
 
The people of SALL who were then part of the Volta Region but now with the Oti Region following the creation of that region could not exercise their franchise in the 2020 parliamentary election to elect an MP to represent them in the current Parliament.

That development necessitated the creation of a new constituency for the SALL areas called the Guan Constituency by the EC but could not materialise before Parliament went on recess for the December 7, 2020 elections on November 9, 2020.

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EC has come has been sued by opposition political parties for its decision to restrict the ongoing limited voter registration exercise to its district offices instead of decentralizing it.

The Chairperson, Mrs Jean Mensa says Parliament is partly to blame for their inability to expand the exercise because it failed to pass the new CI that it presented for approval.

Addressing concerns and criticisms associated with the ongoing exercise, Mrs Mensa said the Commission has been left in a difficult place.

But the Minority in Parliament strongly disagrees with this position and says the Commission does not need a new law to fully execute its mandate.

Speaking on PM Express on Joy News on Wednesday, the MP for Asante-Akim North, who’s also the Ranking Member of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, said there have been extensive discussions on the CI, and so he does not understand why it cannot be laid.

“Indeed, I have been questioning why the EC hasn’t brought the CI and let parliament take a decision on that. I have heard people say that parliament is frustrating the EC in laying its CI Parliament doesn’t have any power to frustrate a constitutionally mandated institution.

“Maybe it’s about consultation between Parliament and the EC that has stalled the filing, but I don’t think Parliament has any power to frustrate the EC, I will not accept that fact. They [EC] probably have to come out with a better explanation. As far as I am concerned, we are all waiting for the filing of the CI for it to continue the process of maturity,” he explained.

Pushed further by the Host of PM Express, Evans Mensah, who reminded him that the EC Chairperson is directly accusing Parliament of frustrating the process, the MP said, “It’s probably because of discussions even beyond the pre-laying conferencing, because I have been part of the pre-laying conferencing, and at a point where we agreed that it ought to be filed, so I don’t see why it cannot be filed.”

He dared the EC to seek legal redress if it is convinced that there is a deliberate attempt to undermine its independence.

“If the EC is experiencing some frustration in the process of filing, EC may go to court to seek orders that will be compelling on even Parliament to facilitate the filling. For me, I have not seen any frustration on the part of Parliament in the laying of the CI If it is true that somebody is frustrating it, then somebody is undermining the independence of the Commission and it ought to be brought to be book. But for me I don’t have evidence of any such frustration. So if it becomes difficult for them, they [EC] can resort to court for interpretation” he argued.

Five political parties led by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are in court with the Electoral Commission (EC) over the decision to restrict the limited voter registration at its district offices.

The agitated political parties are of the view that the decision by the EC to restrict the registration centres to the district offices has the potential to deprive many eligible voters of their right to be registered as voters and to vote in public elections.

Meanwhile, the Commission’s Director of Electoral Services, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe has explained that eligible voters who are unable to register in the Commission’s district offices nationwide would have to do so next year.

He said the EC will have special arrangements for hard-to-reach areas once it receives the legal backing of parliament for its Constitutional Instrument, CI According to him, the Commission will also carry out a continuous registration process in its offices that will serve would-be voters at any given time.

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The new C.I is to allow eligible voters to transfers their votes after participating in the upcoming voters’ registration exercise.

The amendment has become necessary since the existing CI only permits the transfer of votes 12 months ahead of the elections.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensa Bonsu announced this while addressing the media on Thursday.

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He noted that with barely 24 sitting days for Parliament to adjourn sine die, EC has to present the amended CI on time for its maturity before the House goes on recess.

“So I have informed the Commission to ensure that any rules of such must be submitted early enough [perhaps next weeks] if they want to see the maturation of the instrument,” he said.

The Suame MP also highlighted that the amended CI will permit students who are 18 years and above who are currently in school to transfer their votes after completion of their studies or during vacation.

“In the original CI voters cannot transfer within 12 months leading to the elections. But this year, by the time EC is done with the registration, we will be left with less than six months.

“So strictly and technically, if you want to transfer, that cannot happen. Yet, for the students, in particular, we have to make some provision for them, so it will demand an amendment,” he noted.