The Methodist Church Ghana has bemoaned the current indecorous atmosphere in the country where politicians and public office hopefuls trade insults at each other and promote violence in their quest to win power to rule and manage the State’s resources.

The Bishop of the Northern Accra Diocese of the Church, Rt. Rev. Joseph M.Y Edusa-Eyison said “Given that love and truth are the basis of all democracy, should help us to live godly lives and not power-drunk to turn democracy to demon-crazy where people thirsty for power will employ ungodly acts to attain it.”

He said the future of the nation is the collective responsibility of all – Electoral Commission, political parties, agents, Security Agencies, Civil Society, rich and poor, Christians and non-Christians, Mfantsi and Ashanti, Ewe and Ga etcetera, sophisticated and the unsophisticated, men and women, old with young, the educated and the less educated – all must unite our efforts to make this possible.

Bishop Edusa-Eysion reiterated the call by the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Most Rev. Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo to all Synods and members to remember the Church’s resolve at the annual S.H. Amissah Memorial Lectures in Sekondi to speak against monetization in Ghana politics. He asked members to stand by this.

The Presiding Bishop, he said, called on every Methodist playing a role as a candidate, voter and electoral officer to bring their Christian principles to bear as witness and testimony of Christ living in him or her.

He was addressing the Second Annual Synod of the Northern Accra Diocese of the Methodist Church Ghana, under the theme: “Discipleship: Teaching Everyone to Live Like Jesus Christ”, at the St. John Chapel, Tantra Hill, Achimota Circuit in Accra.

The Bishop expressed his gratitude to the leadership and members of the Church in the Diocese for their commitment to the service of the Lord and strides made in the spiritual growth of the Church resulting in strong gains in increasing the membership of the Church, as part of the diocese’s contribution to the Connexional agenda for Operation 10% Growth.

He disclosed that the total Christian Community in the NAD increased from 38,776 (in 2018) to 43,647 (in 2019) representing a 12.56% increase and that this significant increase was mainly as a result of the surge in membership of the Ga Sub-Urban Circuit from 1,535 (in 2018) to 6,150 (in 2019) with the number of Societies in the Circuit also increasing from 51 (in 2018) to 71 (2019).

Prof. Edusa-Eyison emphasized that the preference is the qualitative growth of the Church, instead, with the experiential knowledge of salvation by grace.

The NAD Bishop expressed concern about the devastating effect of COVID-19 not only on the health of humanity but also on economies which requires the Church as major stakeholders to find means of alleviating the negative impact as well as evolve new ways of worshipping.

He disclosed that as means of addressing the high unemployment rate in the Northern Accra Diocese, the Diocese was considering establishing business ventures to employ some of its teeming youth and that a request has been made to the managers of Club 1000, an initiative of the Church through which funds were being mobilized from Methodists and Corporate entities in the NAD to support infrastructural developmental projects, to consider the business initiative.

A five-year strategic plan of the NAD was also inaugurated during the Synod. Three members who developed the concept and design of the Logo for the Diocese were honoured.

The two-day synod recorded 113 Clergymen/women and 148 Laymen/women as delegates. Observers were not admitted at this year’s synod as a measure in keeping with the ceiling on the COVID-19 safety protocols.

A synod is a council of a Church, usually convened to decide on issues of doctrine, administration or application.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Electoral Commission (EC) says it has detected some multiple registration in the ongoing mass voter registration exercise.

The detection followed the commencement of a deduplication exercise by the commission, a process that involves using machines to match pictures and fingerprints of persons who have registered to detect duplication.

The Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Dr Serebour Quarcoo, told the Daily Graphic last Wednesday that an adjudicating committee would sit on the issue on Monday, August 3, 2020, reports Timothy Ngnenbe.

When asked about the number of persons involved in the multiple registration exercise so far, he said: “I cannot put out figures now because we are currently working on it, but, it will be ready by Monday.”

Dr Serebour said the names of persons who would be confirmed to have engaged in multiple registration would be deleted.

When asked what the fate of the culprits would be, he said their names would not be included in the final voters register, meaning such persons would not be able to vote on December 7.

As to whether they would be prosecuted, he said the EC would take a decision on that.

“We will look at all the cases issue by issue at the right time,” he stated.

Dr Serebour explained that the multiple registration might have occurred because of ignorance by some persons.

“We started registering on cluster basis so instead of waiting to have their turn, some people rushed to other polling stations to register and when the registration team got to their original polling stations, they went ahead to register again,” he explained.

Dwindling numbers

Touching on the dwindling numbers at registration centres across the country as the exercise inches to a close on August 6, Dr Quarcoo said it was partly because many people rushed to register when the exercise began.

He, however, said the development was a positive sign that more people had registered already, which had lessened the burden on registration officials.

“If the numbers are going down, it means that many people have registered and challenges with social distancing and other safety protocols have improved,” he added.

Visits

Checks by the Daily Graphic in some centres in the regions indicated that the long queues that characterised the exercise from the beginning had vanished, and EC officials were issuing out about half of the 100 voter identification (ID) cards per day.

Daily Graphic correspondents who visited some of the centres are Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah and Biiya Mukusah Ali, Bono Region; Vincent Amenuveve, Upper East Region; Bright Selase Afavi, Volta Region, and Ruby Delanyo Buafor and Jennifer Kwasin, Accra.

At the registration centres visited, all the necessary protocols were being adhered to strictly.

Veronica buckets had been placed at vantage points for the washing of hands, and the temperature of applicants was taken before the registration process was triggered.

Accra

The centres visited included Kubinson International School in the Anyaa Sowutuom Constituency, the St Joseph’s Catholic School ‘1’ at Adabraka and the CMB Market in the Korley Klottey municipality.

The Registration Officer (RO) at the Kubinson International School, Mr Aziz Okai,  said people came in groups of two and sometimes three, but so far there had been a decline in the number since my team arrived here,” he added.

At the St Joseph’s Catholic School, 160 persons had registered, three days after the registration caravan stopped there.

The RO, Ms Marian Tagoe, said registrants were not showing up as expected, making the centre a quiet place, as compared to the start when officers had no time or less time to go on break.

The situation was the same at the St Joseph’s ‘2’ registration centre where the RO, Ms Munira Tagoe, said 170 persons had registered there in the fourth phase.

Upper East

When the Daily Graphic visited the Sumbrungu Kolbia Akuka registration centre in the Bolgatanga municipality at about 8.50 a.m. last Monday, six people had gone through the registration processes for the day.

At the Sumbrungu Market Square centre, the officer in charge, Mr James Mornah, said as of 9:09 a.m. 10 people had been issued with voter ID cards.

At the Kolbia Market Square, the situation was not different as the registration officials were less busy.

Bono Region

At 1.10 p.m last Monday the Anokye Showroom Registration Centre at Area One in Sunyani was empty but the RO, Mr Akumfi Ameyaw, said 29 people had registered.

The situation was not different at the Bakers Cooperative Office at Ahenboboano where the RO, Mr Benjamin Koomson, said 32 people had registered as of 1.30 p.m.

According to him, people were trickling in and attributed the low patronage to the mad rush that characterised the beginning of the exercise.

Volta Region

Centres visited in the Ho municipality included the Volta Regional Museum Office and the Methodist Primary School, Bankoe, where only a small number of applicants were going through the process.

An EC official at the Regional Museum Registration Centre, Mr Patrick Dzigbordi Adzah, told the Daily Graphic that eight applicants had been captured as of 11:30 a.m. since the day’s exercise started at 7 a.m.

“This registration centre is surrounded by three or more other centres, hence people could not wait for us to come here before they registered. They moved to register at clusters they were not supposed to register,” Mr Adzah observed.

#GhanaVotes2020

A lecturer and communications specialist, Prof. Kwame Karikari, has called on media organisations to bar political party communicators and politicians, who use hate speech, from speaking on media platforms.

He said hate speech had the potential to fuel atrocities, hence the need for the media to “firmly and uncompromisingly draw the line for hate speech.”

Prof. Karikari made the call yesterday when the Media Foundation For West Africa (MFWA) engaged political party communicators on how to promote an issues-based and decent language campaign as the political parties gear up for the 2020 general election.

The engagement brought together representatives of political parties including the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC).

Also in attendance were representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), such as the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA).

Issues that were discussed included the impact of insults and indecent expressions on political fortunes, the media’s role in curtailing hate speech and indecent expressions during elections.

Rules

Taking a look at the rules of engagement, Prof. Karikari said: “The media must lay down very clear rules of engagement against unethical behaviour, indecent expressions and hate speech.”

He noted that hate speech was usually stronger because” it is hate expressed towards individuals or groups because of their identity.”

He added: “You should banish, reject and disallow users of hate speech from your platforms without apology. If it is the newspaper, we have to edit out those unethical expressions and block them out. We must encourage the public also to condemn and reject hate speech.”

Political violence

Prof. Karikari decried the norm where the NDC and the NPP failed to condemn acts of violence perpetrated by their members.

“It is quite demeaning of our national sense of responsibility and abject disrespect for our values as self-respecting citizens, when the two dominant political parties make it a culture not to condemn but actually shield, protect and hail their members who commit violent acts during elections,” he stated.

The communications consultant, therefore, called on the media to condemn politicians and political activists who support perpetrators of violence.

Abusive language

The Executive Director of the MFWA, Mr Sulemana Braimah, also lamented the growing use of abusive language by some radio show hosts.

Describing the development as “worrying,” he stated that the media were supposed to be the gatekeeper that sanitised the airwaves of abusive language.

Call

Mr Braimah, therefore, called on media practitioners to uphold the ethics of the journalism profession in the discharge of their duties.

At the end of the engagement, the representatives of political parties and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) pledged their commitment to upholding the guidelines outlined in the “Elections Communication Guide” compiled by the MFWA.

The guide seeks to address the interrelated roles of political party communicators, members of the public and more importantly, media owners and practitioners in promoting civil political discussions, in prosecuting issues-based campaigns and ultimately ensuring the efficacy and sustainability of Ghana’s democracy.

The Elections Communications Guide provides a brief direction on the need for, and ways of avoiding insult and other indecent expressions in election-related and general political communication.

The mass voter registration by the Electoral Commission (EC) has entered its sixth and final phase beginning Saturday, August 1, 2020.

The entire registration exercise will end on Thursday, August 6, 2020.

A statement issued by the Electoral Commission (EC) urged all eligible voters to take advantage of the final phase and register in order to vote on December 7, 2020.

The Commission said it had noted with satisfaction the high patronage of the exercise as of now and therefore appealed to all prospective applicants to respond to the final call and register at Registration Centres near them.

“The Commission assures members of the public that it will enforce all the safety protocols at all Registration Centres throughout the country,” it added.

It, however, cautioned Members of Political Parties to desist from bussing non-residents to specific registration centres.

Additionally, Guarantors are reminded that it is an offense to charge fees in exchange for vouching for Applicants.

It expressed appreciation to the public for their continued support and interest in the work of the Commission.

More than 12 million voters have so far been registered in the ongoing mass voter registration exercise which has entered the penultimate phase.

As of Sunday, July 26, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Jean Mensa, said 12,371,651 persons had been registered across the country; a figure she said gave inspiration that the Commission would meet its 15 million target.

Before this new registration exercise, there were a total of 16,845,439 voters on the register which the EC said was a bloated figure but did not have an effective means of cleaning it.

Justifying the need for a new Biometric Voters Register for Election 2020, the EC said the present register is bloated yet there has not been any effective means of cleaning it.

It said the bloated register thus needlessly increases the cost of elections as materials must be procured for an otherwise high voter population that does exist, leading also to waste. Besides, its continued use will greatly affect the credibility of the election.

The Commission subsequently procured a new Biometric Voter Management System to compile a new Voters Register for the 2020 general elections.

The Commission explained it also took the decision to procure the new Biometric Voter Management System on the advice of its IT team and external consultants “to the effect that, it would be prudent to acquire a new system rather than refurbish the current system.”

#GhanaVotes2020

The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has condemned incidence of violence at some registration centres the Electoral Commission (EC) is undertaking registration exercises.

“The GBA finds it disturbing and totally unacceptable the events that occurred at Banda-Ahenkro in the Bono Region and the Awutu Senya East Constituency in the Central Region.

This was in a press statement issued and jointly signed by Mr Anthony Forson Jnr, President of the GBA and Mr Yaw Acheampong Boafo, Secretary of the GBA, and copied to the GBA.

It would be recalled that in the Bono Region, there was a violence, which resulted in the untimely death of a teacher trainee, while in the Central Region, the Officials of the EC and prospective voters were exposed to danger and the registration process disrupted.

The GBA “finds the incidents unfortunate and hereby condemn unreservedly the actions of the perpetrators, which has resulted in the untimely death of one person, attacks on Officials of the EC, mayhem and confusion”.

According to them, “the actions are lawless, totally unacceptable, and is regrettable that the suspects in one instance include a Minister who is also a lawmaker”.

The GBA said, it also took note of the fact that the Police Service has commenced investigations with respect to the two incidents specifically referred to above and trust that the investigations into all acts of violence at registration centres would be thorough, speedy and would result in the swift arrest and due prosecution of the offenders irrespective of status.

“In the interim, we call on the security and law enforcement agencies to ensure strict maintenance of law and order at all the registration centres in the current voters’ registration exercise to enable all eligible Ghanaians to go about their civic duties without fear”, the statement said.

They extended their condolences to the family of the teacher who unfortunately lost his life and to empathise with Officials of the EC and all other persons who were victims of the violence.

Source: Business Ghana

The Electoral Commission has reiterated that it is illegal for guarantors to take money from eligible persons before they vouch for them to register in the ongoing registration exercise.

Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensa at a press briefing on Monday disclosed that the EC has picked information from some registration centres about the activities of some guarantors charging fees before vouching for eligible persons who go to centres to register.

This, she said is illegal and punishable by law.

According to her, persons who serve as guarantors should be relatives of the eligible voter or should be persons who know the persons who turn up at centres to register.

The EC Chair made this known in a press briefing dubbed “Let the Citizen’s Know” series Monday, July 27, 2020.

Source: rainbowradioonline.com