Ghana’s Main Opposition Party, NDC, Holds Nationwide Protests Over Alleged Voter Roll Irregularities

Ghana’s National Democratic Congress (NDC), the main opposition party, organised nationwide protests across all 16 regional capitals on Tuesday, demanding an independent forensic audit of the voter register ahead of the December general election. The protests, fuelled by allegations of irregularities in the voter roll, saw thousands of supporters march in key cities, including the capital Accra.

The NDC alleges that the Electoral Commission (EC) has illegally transferred voters without their consent and omitted names from the register, compromising the integrity of the upcoming elections. Party officials claim these issues could lead to widespread disenfranchisement, with accusations that over 50,000 deceased individuals remain on the voter list.

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Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, the NDC’s chairman, stated at the protests that the party was not asking for a favour but demanding their right to free and fair elections. Protesters, dressed in red and black, carried placards reading messages like “we need justice in this election,” calling on international bodies, civil society, and religious groups to intervene.

The Electoral Commission has dismissed the NDC’s calls for an audit as “misguided,” stating that identified errors in the voter roll had already been corrected. In August, the EC suspended an official for transferring voters without their knowledge, emphasising that such issues had been addressed.

The protests concluded with NDC leaders presenting petitions to parliament and the EC, demanding a bipartisan probe into the commission’s activities and immediate publication of the audit’s findings.

Ghana is preparing for its ninth consecutive general election since returning to multi-party democracy in 1992. The upcoming election will see former President John Dramani Mahama of the NDC challenge Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in a highly anticipated race. Both candidates have focused their campaigns on addressing Ghana’s ongoing economic challenges.

The protests also reflect rising tensions over voter trust in the electoral process, with a recent Afrobarometer survey indicating that public confidence in the EC is at its lowest point since 1999. Despite the electoral commission’s reassurances, the NDC remains firm in its demand for greater transparency in the electoral process to ensure the credibility of the December 7 elections.