‘EC treading dangerously on ROPAA’ – Proforum North America

The NDC Proforum-North America has cautioned Ghana’s Electoral Commission, that it is treading dangerously with its continuous suspicious flirtations with the Office of the President in the operationalisation of the Representation of the People Amendment Act in the 2020 general elections.

At a recent engagement with a diaspora group, the Director for Diaspora Affairs at the Presidency was quoted as saying the diaspora association “will work out and present tangible position paper towards the implementation of the law,” but the professional wing of the main opposition is questioning the make-up of the that diaspora association.

The statement signed by President of the group, Arnold Appiah noted that: “The NDC Professional Forum-North America wish to remind the EC that, in this all-important matter of implementing ROPAA, the stakes are high, and interest groups in the diaspora cannot be overlooked. Openness and inclusiveness must guide their decisions to ensure credibility. Too many interest groups exist in the diaspora for the EC to engage in this sensitive process. Any attempt to foist skewed implementation processes on us will be vehemently resisted. They should allow reason to prevail at the onset”.

The ROPAA, Act 2006, ACT 699 was passed to extend the right of the Ghanaian to participate in voting in public elections and referenda to Ghanaians living outside Ghana.

The law mandates the EC to come up with the modalities for implementation for which the EC is consulting with stakeholders to effect its constitutional mandate. But the NDC Proforum-North America is apprehensive of the selection of the diaspora community for the engagement.

“…we will not stand aloof while the EC ridicules Ghana’s democracy with staged consultations with unknown Ghanaian diaspora community.  It is even more ridiculous when the Director Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the President speaks for the diaspora community. We respect the authority vested in the EC by the constitution regarding diaspora elections, but we cannot tolerate their indiscretion and poor judgement”; the statement said.

The NDC Proforum-North America has therefore reiterated its demand for the immediate publication of the modalities for the operationalization of ROPAA so it could be scrutinized by a respected representation of the diaspora community which transcends political leanings.

Find full Statement below: