VZCZCXRO0521
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAR #0521/01 1081035
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171035Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6420
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

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