The National chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress,(NDC) Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has rubbished the Electoral Commission’s (EC) directives to electorate to make sure they put on nose mask before they go to the polling stations to cast their vote.
According to him, there is no Constitutional Instrument (C.I) backing that directive.
The EC at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting yesterday announced to the political parties the new arrangement that all electorates must make sure they put on face mask before allowed to vote.
But Mr Ampofo, speaking at the party’s Town Hall meeting on their People’s Manifesto in Cape Coast on Thursday said denying a constitutionally mandated voter from voting because of nose mask is unconstitutional and explained that that was the move on the part of the EC to disenfranchise some innocent Ghanaians since according to him, not every Ghanaian could afford to buy a nose mask and that the directive is unrealistic.
The former Local Government minister however charged the Commission to call on government to resource it [EC] to procure nose masks for all the electorates.
“If you, as it has left just few days to the election, say everybody must be in nose mask, it is practically impossible. Otherwise, the Electoral Commission has a duty to purchase the nose masks and place them at every polling station so that the voters pick them to wear when they get there. If indeed they want to protect Ghanaians from contracting the corona virus, they can not tell us that they expect the people of Kunburugu Yuoyoo, Ellembele, Ketu South, Kwabre East and even Dome Kwabenya where some of them have as many as 172,000 registered voters. Even if you decide to go and buy nose mask, with this number, I don’t think there is any shop that can provide that quantity,” Mr Ampofo opined.
President Akufo-Addo, as part of measures to curb the spread of the corona virus pandemic, has issued an Executive Instrument (EI) that makes the wearing of nose mask in public mandatory until December 14, 2020.
Story: Kojo Ata Kakrah//Cape Coast