Ghana’s largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), held nationwide protests on Tuesday, demanding an audit of the voter roll ahead of the December general elections. Millions of supporters participated in demonstrations across all 16 regional capitals, including the capital, Accra, according to NDC member of parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
NDC Chairman Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah emphasized the party’s demand for free and fair elections, stating, “We are not asking for a big favor from the electoral commission.” The NDC claims to have identified nearly 300,000 irregularities, including unauthorized transfers and removals of voters’ names.
Omane Boamah, the NDC’s director of elections, called for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to facilitate an independent audit, suggesting that the electoral commission may be hiding something.
Ghana has a strong history of peaceful and transparent elections, but recent allegations of voter roll irregularities have raised concerns about potential democratic backsliding. The electoral commission has dismissed the NDC’s call for a forensic audit as “misguided.”
Asiedu-Nketiah urged immediate action to prevent any threats to democracy, warning that complacency could lead to conflict. The protests culminated in a petition delivered to parliament and the electoral commission, demanding a bipartisan inquiry into the electoral commission’s conduct and an independent forensic audit of the voter register, with the immediate publication of the findings.
This year’s elections, set for December 7, will be the ninth since Ghana’s return to multi-party democracy in 1992, with former President John Dramani Mahama of the NDC challenging Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party.