GHANA ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND PARTIES DEBATE PLAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ACCRA 000521

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AND AF/RSA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM GH
SUBJECT: GHANA ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND PARTIES DEBATE PLAN
TO INVESTIGATE BLOATED VOTER REGISTERS

REF: ACCRA 339


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In a contentious April 11 meeting of the
Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC),political parties
criticized the Electoral Commission's (EC) lack of progress
in investigating allegations that voter registers in NPP
strongholds had been significantly inflated during the last
election, with party representatives stressing that the issue
goes to the credibility and integrity of the EC. The parties
also sparred with the EC over procedures, and both major
parties disagreed with the EC's admonition not to speak with
the media following IPAC meetings. The EC disclosed that it
has a shortfall of 2,500 digital cameras (i.e. half the
number required) to update voter IDs. However, its
recommendation to divide the country into two zones to
conduct registration at separate times was roundly rejected
by parties as providing an opportunity for dual registration,
with opposition parties questioning the government's failure
to provide adequate funding to the EC. END SUMMARY.

Parties Confront EC over Agenda/Process
--------------


2. (SBU) On April 11, POL Chief attended the second
Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting of 2008 at
Ghana's Electoral Commission headquarters in Accra. The
meeting was convened by EC Chairman Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, and
attended by representatives of all registered political
parties, members of the EC, and donor country representatives
(the U.S., UK, Japan, Netherlands, and Canada). The meeting
began contentiously with the National Democratic Congress
(NDC),the People's National Convention (PNC),and the ruling
New Patriotic Party (NPP) objecting to the order of agenda
items introduced by Chairman Afari-Gyan (the first item on
the agenda was a discussion of the process of updating the
voter register),demanding instead that the allegedly bloated
Ashanti voter registers, the principal subject of the March 4
IPAC meeting (reftel),be the first item discussed. The PNC
also objected to the EC's failure to provide minutes or notes
from the last IPAC meeting, a complaint that was vociferously
seconded by NPP General Secretary Nana Ohene-Ntow.


3. (SBU) Ohene-Ntow added that the question of why there are
contradictory sets of figures "goes to the heart of the
Electoral Commission's integrity." Having an EC with
integrity, he stressed, "is essential," and compared the EC's
actions to "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."


4. (SBU) EC Chairman Afari-Gyan explained that the notes from
the last meeting were not ready - that they were in his
office but he had not had time to review them due to his
travel to Zimbabwe to observe the election there. The EC
Chairman also said that before the EC begins the registration
process, it would provide "figures." However, he stressed
that these would not be "fresh" registers, as the EC would be
working off of the registers from the previous election.

EC Criticizes Parties' Media Engagement
--------------


5. (SBU) Afari-Gyan then complained that several political
parties (i.e. the NDC) had left the March 4 meeting and
spoken directly to the media about IPAC discussions. This,
said Afari-Gyan, went against the spirit of the IPAC, which
had originally agreed to exclude the media to permit frank
discussions. If parties are going to go directly to the
press after the meeting, he said, "we might as well invite
them to the meetings - think about this."


6. (SBU) The NDC argued that openness and transparency is
important for good governance, and critical to the democratic
process. It noted that it had brought up issues privately
with the EC that were not addressed; however after speaking
to the press, the EC responded to NDC concerns. NPP General
Secretary Ohene-Ntow concurred with the NDC, arguing that

SIPDIS
press should not be present at the IPAC meeting, but said it
is the parties' right and responsibility to inform the public
and party members of the issues discussed at IPAC. However,
party leaders should use discretion in their comments, and
speak responsibly. The NPP's Dan Botwe also recommended that
the EC itself brief the press after IPAC meetings to inform
the public of the issues discussed.

Parties Object to EC proposals on Voter Register Updates
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) Turning to the first agenda item, Afari-Gyan noted
that due to funding shortfalls the EC was only able to
purchase 2500 digital cameras, which are needed to produce

ACCRA 00000521 002 OF 003


voter identification cards to update the voter register.
Because this was half the number required, the EC proposed to
divide the country into two zones and conduct the register
update on separate dates in each zone. Afari-Gyan said that
Zone 1 would include: Western Region (452 electoral areas),
Central Region (498 ),Greater Accra (236),Volta (517),and
Eastern Region (691),for a total of 2394 electoral areas.
Zone 2 would include: Ashanti (840),Brong Ahafo (582),
Northern (546),Upper East (270),and Upper West (198),for a
total of 2436. Afari-Gyan said that the process would begin
in May and may extend into June.


8. (SBU) This suggestion encountered strong opposition from
the parties. NDC National Organizer Ofuso Ampufo queried the
EC on why it did not have sufficient cameras to conduct
registration in all regions at the same time, and commented
that this should have been in the EC's budget that was
submitted to parliament. By doing the registration in two
zones at separate times, he said, there would be no mechanism
to prevent people from registering twice. Why, he asked, was
it not possible to purchase 5,000 cameras? He recommended
that the EC go back to the Ministry of Finance for funding.


9. (SBU) The NPP commented that the number of electoral areas
provided by the EC was inconsistent with numbers provided at
an earlier date. Dan Botwe said that discrepancies and
imprecision in numbers from the EC was a serious problem, and
said that the EC should ensure it is providing accurate
information before the IPAC is convened. He urged that the
EC avoid approximating and rounding up numbers." This
criticism was echoed by the NDC, who called the
approximations a "very serious issue." The NDC again
stressed that it opposed the EC's two-zone proposal as
opening the door to dual registrations, and that the process
must take place in all regions simultaneously.


10. (SBU) The Chairman of the EC observed that there was a
consensus that registration must take place at the same time,
"even if we must put districts together." The last point was
then vociferously criticized by the opposition parties. The
NDC warned that the EC should not "draw conclusions like
that..." Some districts are already to big, it said. Having
bought two aircraft for the President, said the NDC National
Organizer, the government can afford to purchase 2500 more
cameras for the EC.


11. (SBU) The chairman replied that the EC would take the
size of electoral areas into consideration and develop a new
plan at once. The NPP suggested that the EC "be creative and
consider moving the workstations around." The NPP added that
a major problem has been the lack of knowledge of where
registration stations are, and said the EC needs to improve
education efforts. The NDC also stressed the importance of
ensuring that registration stations have adequate materials,
to ensure that people are not turned away who want to
register.

Bloated Registers in Ashanti
--------------


12. (SBU) The Chairman then turned to the discrepancies
between the EC's figures for Ashanti voter registers and the
figures "that were made available." The chairman
acknowledged that the EC had provided figures to the NDC that
showed figures in Ashanti that varied significantly from
other numbers made available, and announced that the EC had
decided to set up a committee to investigate the problem.
(NOTE: As reported reftel, the discrepancy showed 13
districts in the NPP-stronghold Ashanti region with over 100%
voter increases between 2004-06. END NOTE). The chairman
said that the committee would include two representatives
from the EC, one from the NDC, one from the NPP, one
representing the other parties, one from the Statistical
service, and one from another body such as the West African
Examination Council (WAEC). However, this provoked
opposition from the smaller parties, and in the end the EC
agreed that the parties could appoint four representatives to
the committee.


13. (SBU) The CPP representative again criticized the EC's
failure to provide notes from the March 4 IPAC meeting, the
lack of progress on the investigation to date, and the
"lighthearted manner" with which the Chairman appeared to be
treating the Ashanti register controversy, stressing again
that the scandal affected the integrity of the EC and "the
survival of the country." He also requested a description of
the terms of reference for the investigative committee. The
EC Chairman cut off the CPP representative in mid-sentence,
stressing that the IPAC is "only an advisory body... the EC

ACCRA 00000521 003 OF 003


does not report to IPAC or to anyone."


14. (SBU) Concerning terms of reference for the
investigation, the Chairman said they would be to: (1)
determine the source of the discrepancy; (2) make
recommendations in line with its findings; and (3) examine
any related issues that might be referred to the committee.

Concluding Issues
--------------


15. (SBU) The meeting concluded with a brief discussion of a
petition submitted to the EC by the NDC seeking additional
polling stations in the Ashiedu Keteke district. While the
Chairman asked the parties to study the proposal and provide
feedback, the NPP objected to the discussion, noting that the
issue (whether to increase the number of polling stations in
an area) was a technical matter within the purview of the EC
and not an appropriate matter for consideration by IPAC. The
PNC asked the EC for assistance with training party polling
agents, and the NDC urged greater efforts to educate the
public on where to register.


16. (SBU) The EC Chairman concluded by briefing the parties
on provisional figures for ID cards replaced in its recent
exercise. Provisional results indicated 40,895 lost ID cards
in the Western Region, 33,435 in Central Region, 59,410 in
Accra, 29,734 in Volta, 36,782 in Eastern Region, 87,980 in
Ashanti, 39,018 in Brong Ahafo, 19,593 in the Northern
Region, 9,655 in Upper East, and 11,433 in Upper West. The
total number of lost ID cards replaced in the exercise was
367,931.


17. (SBU) COMMENT: The discrepancy over the allegedly
inflated Ashanti voter registers remains a volatile issue in
Ghana, and the EC's lack of progress on the investigation is
disappointing. With the 2008 presidential and parliamentary
elections likely to be close, the EC's credibility has been
called into question, and it is not clear whether it fully
recognizes the seriousness of this issue. Nevertheless, the
IPAC meetings are providing a key opportunity for parties and
the EC to air out their differences, and the fact that they
are being discussed in a frank manner nine months before the
election provides an opportunity for the key stakeholders to
address these issues. END COMMENT.
BROWN