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‘Ghana Card surest way to ensure the integrity of our register’ – EC
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa has criticised Parliament for opposing its new Constitutional Instrument (C.I) seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole voter registration document.
Jean Mensa said the Ghana Card is the surest way to ensure the integrity of our register.Addressing the media on Thursday, August 17, she said the guarantor system had outlived its usefulness.
According to her, the Commission does not believe the guarantor system has worked. “With regard to the CI that is before Parliament, we do not intend to put back the guarantor system because we do not believe that the guarantor system has worked for us.”
“Thirty years ago when we took this journey, and we did not have a Ghana Card, it was only proper that we adopt a system that would ensure that people who didn’t have any documentation could register and thirty years on, we now have the Ghana Card, and we must rely on it, and it is the surest way to ensure the integrity of our register,” she said.
Jean Mensa insisted that the proposed C.I. would enable the EC to conduct a free and fair election.
“As a commission that is determined to conduct credible, transparent, fair and peaceful elections, we were keen to establish and uphold the integrity of the foundational document which is the voters’ register, hence our proposal to use the Ghana Card as the sole document for identification of a person’s citizenship and or age.”“Our experience with the 2020 Registration Exercise showed that several minors and foreigners using the window of the guarantor system found their way onto our roll.
“To rid the register of minors and foreigners in 2020, the Electoral Commission established the District Registration Review Committees (DRRCS) which worked for several weeks to delete the names of minors and foreigners from the Register.
It took substantial time and effort to expunge the names of illegal persons from our [electoral] roll.”
“We challenged some 40,000 minors and foreigners and expunged some 15,000 persons from the Register,” she added. Meanwhile, she also revealed that the EC will commence the 2023 voter registration exercise on Tuesday, September 12, and end on Monday, October 2.
The exercise will take place at its district offices across the country.
“The voter’s registration exercise will afford Ghanaians who have attained the age of 18 years, since the last registration of 2020 and others who are more than 18 years, but for various reasons couldn’t register during the 2020 registration exercise.”
“The EC will embark on voters registration in all 268 district offices of the Commission.
The exercise will be held from September 12 to October 2,” she disclosed.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
A former Sec ond Lady, Mrs Matilda Amis sah-Arthur, has called for urgent action to bridge literacy gaps among young girls in the country to advance gender equality.
She stressed that improving lit eracy among girls was essential not only for women’s empowerment but also for national development.
“Addressing the literacy gap is not a woman’s issue. It is a nation al necessity and, with the passing of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act, 2024, Ghana is signalling that women belong in leadership, but leadership begins with a book,” she said.
Mrs Amissah-Arthur made the call at an event organised by the Ghana Library Authority (GLA) in Accra yesterday to mark Interna tional Women’s Day (IWD) on the theme: “Her Voice in Libraries: Women Transforming Literacy in Ghana.”
According to her, many girls in Ghana still drop out of school due to poverty, lack of mentorship and limited support systems, warning that without deliberate interven tions some risk becoming part of worrying national statistics.
The former Second Lady encouraged students, particularly girls, to see education not only as a tool for personal advancement but also as a means of empowering future generations.
“Don’t shy away from STEM and ICT subjects. Break into the male-dominated areas and bridge the digital divide,” she added.
Mrs Amissah-Arthur also called for stronger partnerships between men and women in advancing gen der equality, stressing that the issue should be viewed as a national development priority rather than solely a women’s concern.
“Gender equality is not a woman’s issue. It is a development issue. It requires partnership, respect and shared responsibility,” she said.
She further expressed opti mism that with the right support systems, every child, regardless of gender, could achieve their full potential.
In a remark, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Lydia Essuah, said that despite progress made in promoting gender equality in the education sector, challenges remained in ensuring progression, completion and quality learning outcomes for all learners.
She highlighted the important role of libraries in advancing liter acy and lifelong learning skills, and called for increased investment in library infrastructure and services to help build a knowledge-driven society.
The Executive Director of the Ghana Library Authority, Alhassan Ziblim Bentintiche, also under scored the importance of libraries in empowering young people, par ticularly girls, with access to books, digital resources and mentorship opportunities.
He disclosed plans to expand Ghana’s library infrastructure and services to particularly attract the youth and promote literacy.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
Management of the Metro Mass Transit Limited has accused the government of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of pursuing what it describes as a “create, loot and share” agenda in the sale of portions of the Opera Square Bus Terminal to a private developer.
The Deputy Managing Director of the company, Haroun Apaw-Wiredu, raised the concerns while speaking to journalists at the Opera Square Bus Terminal in Accra on Thursday, March 12, 2026.
He indicated that the management of Metro Mass Transit would not tolerate any further unauthorized development at the terminal and would take steps to protect the property.
According to him, it would be wrong for a private developer to take control of state property for personal economic gain while the company and the public remain silent.
“How can we sit down and allow a private developer, just for his selfish economic gains, to capture state property for himself? No, we cannot sit down,” he stressed.
Mr Apaw Wiredu called on the public to resist what he described as attempts to take over state assets, adding that such actions would disadvantage ordinary citizens.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we must all stand up. We must all wake up. We must fight this level of brazen looting and attempts to milk the system at the expense of ordinary Ghanaians,” he indicated.
He explained that some individuals had been operating around the terminal for many years and alleged that the developer gained access to the land during the previous administration.
Mr Apaw Wiredu stressed that under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama, the company would pursue all legitimate means to protect the terminal from what he described as unlawful takeover.
He added that management would use every legal avenue available to defend the property and prevent any attempt to take control of the land without proper authorization.
By: Jacob Aggrey
