[ 2011-04-19 ]

Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communications

Haruna Iddrisu wants prisoners to vote
The Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu,
has asked the authorities of the Ghana Prisons
Service to comply with the Supreme Court ruling to
allow prisoners to vote in the next elections.

He said: "Even for those who attempt to derail the
democratic process, voting remains an important
means of teaching them democratic values" he said,
adding that "when politicians know that prisoners
can also vote, they will improve on their
conditions of living."

Speaking to the Times on the sidelines of a
ceremony to hand over an Information Communication
Technology Centre at the Prisons Officers'
Training School in Accra, Mr. Iddrisu expressed
the hope that the prisoners would not abuse the
opportunity.

He said the Prisons Service is an important
institution which needs constant interactions with
other arms of government, such as the Judicial
Service, the Police Service and the Social Welfare
Department, to implement its policies and
programmes relating to the penal system.

"The Prisons Service is an important institution
of government to uphold and respect the rights of
convicts," he stated.

The Chief Public Relations Officer of the Ghana
Prisons Service, ASP Courage Atsem, said the
service was ready to collaborate with the
Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure compliance
with the Supreme Court ruling.

He said the service was awaiting the EC's
modalities on the issue.

He expressed satisfaction with the attention being
given to the inmates' problems.

He said the opportunity given to prisoners to vote
was an improvement in the country's democratic
credentials which gave them the right to determine
who should rule them.

The Supreme Court, in a landmark decision on March
24 last year, gave the nod to all on remand and
convicted prisoners in the country to exercise
their franchise.

To cement its decision, the court directed the EC
to come out with a Constitutional Instrument (CI)
to create the legal framework that will facilitate
the inclusion of prisoners in the voters register
for the next general election.

The court, presided over by the Chief Justice,
Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, in a
unanimous decision, upheld an application filed on
behalf of remand and convicted prisoners by two
legal practitioners, Ahumah Ocansey and Kojo
Graham of the Centre for Human Rights and Civil
Liberties (CHURCIL).

The two had, in separate suits which were
consolidated by the court on November 12, 2009,
prayed the court to declare as null and void,
sections of PNDC Law 284 which barred remand and
convicted prisoners from voting.

Joined in the suit were the Attorney-General and
the EC.

"This right extends or includes all convicted
prisoners, irrespective of the provisions of
Section 7 (5) of the Representation of the
People's Law, 1992, (PNDC Law 284) which imposes a
residency requirement or qualification under which
convicted prisoners were deemed disqualified," the
court ruled.

It, therefore, declared as void Section 7 (5) of
Law 284, since it was inconsistent with Article 42
of the 1992 Constitution.

Source - The New Statesman

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