NPP: biometric registration is an excellent step in the right direction
The main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP)has described government’s decision to allocate GH¢50 million to the Electoral Commission for the biometric registration process as “an excellent step in the right direction”.
The Finance Minister, Dr. Kwabena Duffour on Thursday July 14, announced on the floor of Parliament that government has released GH¢50 million to the Electoral Commission to implement the processes leading to the 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Dr. Duffour announced this together with a number of fund allocations when he requested the House to approve an amount of GH¢1,463,123,559.00, as supplementary budget for the government for 2011.
The Electoral Commission would use some of the funds to finance the production of a biometric voters register to reduce the incidence of electoral disputes and possible violence.
The NPP’s commendation comes on the back of calls on government to expedite action on the implementation of the biometric registration process for next year’s elections.
The National Chairman of the NPP, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey in an interview with Citi News said allocating monies in time to help curb electoral fraud is something worthy of commendation.
“To have monies voted towards improving the electoral process to be voted in time is something that has to be commended by everybody” he declared.
“Everybody who is entitled to vote must be given the opportunity to vote, vote only once, have their vote properly counted and properly declared and this one (allocation)gives us a big opportunity to step up towards that level”.
“We must have a situation where we have a biometric register that is a verifiable biometric register with a central database that stops people from registering twice and also stops anybody who is not entitled to vote, from voting.
“What government has done is not the end but it is a step in the right direction, let us give a positive spin to it and let us encourage everybody to see what we can make of it towards getting a positive result”.
Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey also poured cold water on the various allocations made by the Finance Minister saying Ghanaians should not rejoice over mere announcements. He said the Finance Minister must ensure that whatever amount announced as an allocation becomes a reality.
Source Citifmonline Ghana
Category: Politics
