PUBLIC CONSENSUS AND SUPPORT FOR THE BIOMETRIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM IN GHANA: GHANA CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE ENGAGES THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION (EC)
As part of the Church’s commitment to the promotion of good governance and democracy in Ghana, and to complement government effort in educating the citizenry, the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference embarks on civic and voter education every other year. This year, the Conference has developed its programme titled, “Civic Agenda for Smooth Political Transition :, focus on the Biometric Registration and Voting System and the Political Transition Law for Ghana’s Election 2012” – CAST FOR GHANA in short. The programme is in partnership with STAR-Ghana, a pool funded mechanism that seeks to empower civil society and parliaments in ensuring effective governance of public goods and service delivery.
This programme flows from the Annual Plenary Assembly of the Conference in Takoradi in 2011, during which the Conference issued a communiqué under the theme “Good Governance for Peace”. The communiqué dealt with a number of issues among which was the call on the Electoral Commission and government to ensure the smooth introduction of the BIOMETRIC REGISTRATION AND VOTING SYSTEM as a way of enhancing the electoral process. On February 2, 2012, at the Conference Hall of the National Catholic Secretariat, the Conference engaged the EC to give members insights into the Biometric Registration System.
In attendance were Heads of other Faith Based Organizations including Very Rev. Henry Ampaw-Asiedu from the Methodist Church of Ghana; Rev. Dominic Nii Tetteh Tackie from the Pentecostal Church and Alhaji Adam Musah Abubakar from the Office of the Chief Imam as well as Mr. Emmanuel Bombande, Executive Secretary of West African Network for Peace (WANEP), a collaborating agency with the Bishops’ Conference.
The briefing was facilitated by the Deputy Commissioner of the Electoral Commission in Charge of Finance and Administration, Mr. Adeenze KANGA. A Technical Team from Superlock Technologies Limited (STL) demonstrated how the process works highlighting on the security mechanisms in the process. The deputy commisioner briefed the entire Bishops’ Conference on the adoption of the Biometric Registration System which he said was primarily from recommendations of a review sub-committee constituted by the Commission after the 2008 general elections. From the review, it became apparent that the regular hard copy EC registration form had become outmoded and the voters’ identity card (ID) had also become vulnerable making counterfeiting very easy. Electoral fraud was therefore difficult to control under the circumstance. The biometric system is to reduce electoral fraud to the barest minimum.
Mr. Adeenze-Kangah highlighted the advantages of the biometric registration system. They included the following:
• The facial as well as the biometric features of all the ten fingers of the potential voter would be captured and stored in the voter’s card.
• A receipt will be issued to all registered voters
• A bar code would be imprinted on the laminated biometric card making it difficult for impersonation and false representation.
• Double registration would easily be detected and eliminated.
• All registration information will be compiled, collated and stored into a national data base.
• Biometric registration kits comprising laptop computers, finger prints, scanners and digital cameras will be made available at registration centres to capture the registration forms directly.
FIELD OPERATION STRATEGY
According to Mr. Adeenze-Kangah the commission would require a total of 23000 kits to cover all centres in the country. As a first step, the commission has decided to acquire 7000 kits which it can manage more effectively using a strategy of allocating a kit to work in a number of registration centres or a cluster of registration centres. The whole country could therefore be covered in a matter of 56 days.
On the thorny question of verification, the commissioner assured the meeting that the problem of verification had been addressed. Data would have to be collated before verification could take place. He explained that at the polling stations, for example, it would be possible to slot in a laminated biometric card and verify information on the voter. No special verification machines would need to be acquired. Measures were being put in place to ensure continuous registration at all District offices of the EC.
On the issue of the registration of foreigners who pass off as ‘Ghanaians”, the commissioner stated that the National Identification Authority (NIA) has been mandated by the constitution of Ghana to solve this challenge by issuing National Identity cards. Unfortunately, its work is fraught with numerous challenges and parts of the country are yet to be fully covered by the identification exercise. When the identity of any voter is in doubt other data like house number, names and identity of parents and grandparents would be evoked.
In addressing the challenge of unreliable power supply, Mr. Adeenze-Kangah said every box kit is installed with its own generator. The laptop and printer also have inbuilt standby power supply systems with power regulators.
On capturing data on amputees or those without limbs, the commissioner was emphatic that the kit would indicate such uniqueness.
On education of Ghanaians on the new Biometric voting system, the commissioner stated that the media would be used to educate as many Ghanaians as possible on the exercise. Political parties will be engaged at the level of Inter-Party Advisory Committee to educate its followers. The commissioner encouraged the Church to partner the EC in the civic education programme for Ghanaians to appreciate the biometric process. He pledged the support of the EC at all levels.
On the snatching of ballot boxes, the facilitator stated that the electorate must remain vigilant and learn to defend the electoral process. Ghanaians must be encouraged to protect ballot boxes.
To effectively manage elections, there is the need for sufficient funds. The commissioner stated that all the material resources have been mobilized. With respect to financial resources, he was of the opinion that the timely release of funds was very crucial. He was quick to add that so far, there has not been any indication of a lack of funds.
Registering and voting more than once by miscreants would be controlled with the application of indelible ink. Collected data would be entered into the national data base and double registration cases would be detected and dealt with. In extreme cases, culprits will be handed over to the police.
The law allows political parties to act as check on one another. Unfortunately intimidation is still the order of the day in some so-called “party strongholds”. Best watchdog mechanisms can still be sabotaged and ruined.
If the media is guided by ethical values, things would turn out just excellent. The temptation to go over board is always present.
During the second part of the session some Bishops were taken through the practical process of biometric registration and issued with dummy registration cards.
This marks the beginning of the Conference’s education programme on the biometric registration system which will be extended to the 4 provinces and 20 Dioceses of the country. In addition, the Bishops’ Conference hopes to engage key stakeholders in ensuring the passage of the Political Transition Bill into Law. It is the hope of the Conference that this would mark an end to the acrimonious and ineffective management of political transition in the country.