Ghana: Prisoners to vote in 2012 elections

The Electoral Commission (EC) is to register prison inmates to enable them to vote in the 2012 general elections. On 9 th November, EC's chairman Dr Afari Gyan, said that the it would put all the necessary measures in place to start the process and would “ register them like any ordinary Ghanaian for the 2012 elections.”

Inaugurating the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison in the Central Region on 8 th November, President John Evans Atta Mills said that prison inmates have the right to vote and that the government and the EC would abide by the Supreme Court ruling.

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), however, has accused Mills of using prisoners to help secure re-election in 2012. The NPP Central Regional Secretary Kwamena Duncan told reporters “ it is only a failing government, a President that is groping in the dark that would want prisoners to vote only because that is an easier way to garner votes to stay in power.”

The decision has also re-opened the debate on whether Ghanaians living abroad should be allowed to vote in the general elections.

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates