Ghana’s opposition demands voter register audit in nationwide protests ahead of elections
Ahead of Ghana’s crucial December 7 elections, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has launched nationwide protests, demanding a forensic audit of the Electoral Commission’s (EC) voter register.
The EC’s refusal to allow this audit has sparked demonstrations in all 16 regions of the country.
The protests, which began on Tuesday, September 17, are aimed at ensuring transparency and fairness in the electoral process, according to NDC officials.
Former Ghanaian President and current NDC presidential candidate, John Mahama, emphasised the peaceful nature of the demonstrations.
“This is a peaceful demonstration. It is not a violent demonstration. It is a peaceful demonstration. And so if you know you cannot be peaceful, don’t come. We want only the people of peace to join us,” Mahama is quoted by local news outlet Joy Online.
John Mahama, who served as President from 2012 to 2016, has lost the last two elections to the incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
With Akufo-Addo ineligible to run after serving two terms, Mahama is set to face Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP’s 2024 presidential candidate, in a high-stakes election.
The December 7 vote could secure an unprecedented third consecutive term for the NPP-led government or return the former president Mahama into office for only a single term amid serious economic hardships that has seen the country experience its highest inflation rates in over 40 years and the steepest depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar in the last 30 years.
