The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejoined the Inter Party Advisory Commitee (IPAC) meetings with the Electoral Commission.
The decision follows an intervention by the National Peace Council, NPC at a meeting held at Peduase in the Eastern Region on Thursday, December 14.
The stock-taking conference, attended by other stakeholders, was to assess institutional progress towards building the required resilience for credible, transparent, and peaceful general elections in 2024.
Myxyzonline has learnt NDC’s return was based on condition that IPAC maintains its consensus status whereby decisions twill be influenced by the consideration of all parties in the interest of Ghana.
Prior to the official announcement by the NDC, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa, made an appeal to the NDC to rejoin IPAC.
She admitted that the party’s contribution was invaluable to the democratic process of the country.
“I would like to use this opportunity to invite the leadership of the National Democratic Congress to our IPAC meetings. We do realise that since 2021, NDC has not been present at our IPAC meetings. We miss them, we miss their fire. I extend an olive branch and in the interest of peace of our country. We invite them to IPAC,” she said.
In response, the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia expressed his party’s commitment towards efforts at shaping the country’s democratic and electoral processes.
He however emphasized the need for the C must ensure that IPAC assumes its original “consensus building” status towards the implementation of electoral reforms.
“On behalf of the Party, we accept the appeal from the National Peace Council that we should consider returning to IPAC, but we want to return to IPAC and not any other forum”. – he explained
Mr Nketia added. “The other side is for us to work to make sure that IPAC returns to its consensus building days…the issues that blocked our return should be dealt with before our next IPAC meeting,”
He also expressed concern with the EC’s efforts towards making the Ghana Card the sole identification document for the Commission’s proposed continuous voter registration exercise.
The NDC argued that the move had the potential to disenfranchise about one million voters, a position the EC had debunked.
“We will support it if everyone had the Ghana Card,” Mr Nketia said.
Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Ms Kathleen Addy, in a brief remark, said the 2024 Election was peculiar in the wake of political instability in the West Africa Sub-region.
“We are more vulnerable than before. We must work with each other and assure each other so that we can arrive at the elections and beyond the elections in peace and intact,” she said.
The NDC had boycotted IPAC meetings since March 2020 after the party expressed displeasure about the posture of the Electoral Commission (EC).
The Party had accused the Commission of failing to take into consideration decisions at IPAC meetings as part of its electoral reforms.
Myxyzonline
