Ghana- The bloated voters' register

Ghana is preparing for Presidential and parliamentary elections on the 7 December 2008. The following statements have been attributed to the Chairman of the Electoral Commission Dr Afari Gyan on the voters'register to be used for the elections.

a. “If our population is indeed 22 million, then perhaps 13 million people on our register would be statistically unacceptable by world standards. If that is the case, then it may mean that there is something wrong with our register.”
b. “All of us as Ghanaians, if we think the figure is not realistic, have a collective responsibility to try to clean the register.”

Dr. Afari Gyan is also quoted as having said that - he cannot be expected to know all the people in the register and it is incumbent on all Ghanaians to play responsible roles in getting a credible register.

In the bid to avoid violence in the forthcoming elections the transparency of the election process is crucial. the elections must not only be free and fair but must be transparent and be seen to be free and fair.

In this time and age one wonders why Dr Afari Gyan cannot ensure that the whole voters' register is placed on the EC website by polling station for all Ghanaians to access and comment on. All the political parties and the people of Ghana now that Dr Afari Gyan has sought their advice and assistance should insist that he causes the register to be placed on the web. In this time and age he should not expect everyone to be able to travel to his polling station to check the register. In any case how long is each person going to be allowed to scrutinize the register? Afari Gyan should do the obvious if he means what he is saying. We are in an IT age and he should eschew his apparent archaic mentality.