Biometric
One of the many challenges bedeviling the ongoing biometric registration exercise is the attempt by foreigners to breach the law governing the process.
None of the breaches, there is no doubt, is as insulting as having our arms tied behind us by our compatriots from the ruling party as foreigners from neighbouring countries poke their noses in what is strictly a Ghanaian affair.
Although not all of such persons succeeded in crossing the red line, the areas close to Togo recorded a different story with the obscene connivance of the local populace, most of them political figures. It is amazing that some Ghanaians, especially those who call themselves leaders, can mortgage the interest of Ghana for the sake of votes.
It is a worrying trend, an apt indicator of just how things have degenerated in the country.
It would be important to ask whether a full-blooded Ghanaian can breach local electoral laws in places like Cote d’Ivoire, Togo or even Nigeria without encountering very serious repercussions. They dare not, knowing fully what could befall them when they are smoked out.
Not so in Ghana where we can cheapen ourselves by not only leading such ineligible persons, most of them illegal foreigners and even refugees, to register with a view to having them vote for our choices but even assisting them to acquire our passports. It is the height of political irresponsibility.
No wonder many unscrupulous persons who possess these travel documents commit crimes in foreign countries and stain Ghana’s image, when they really do not hail from here.
Perhaps, more weird is the President’s representatives in the persons of DCEs and MCEs going to bail these defaulters when they are arrested by vigilant Ghanaians for the registration breaches.
While some of these defaulters were able to abuse the system by getting their names inserted in the electoral register, others were not so lucky, having been arrested and handed over to the Police.
But that was not the end of the story because in many of the cases, the foreigners, as in what happened in Ellembele in the Western Region, NDC apparatchiks intervened and prevented the Police from proceeding with their investigations prior to arraigning them.
The Ellembele story is about a number of Burkinabes who, upon their arrest for attempting to register when they are not qualified to do so, admitted to being nationals of the West African country.
They disclosed their nationalities because of the involvement of Ghanaian government officials in their criminality.
Togolese, Ivorians, Burkinabes and other nationals from the sub-region have been challenged at various registration centres across the country, especially those close to border points. It is a growing trend which must be stemmed now before we become laughing stocks in the eyes of these foreigners. Isn’t it shameful that we can descend to this level many years after independence? The situation can be likened to opening our frontiers and allowing foreigners to come and insult us and return home.
