By: Justice Appiah
Member of the communications team of the Movement for Change, Dr. Ramzi Inusah has said the Electoral Commission cannot be trusted as a referee in the upcoming polls.
According to him, the Electoral Commission is made up of former members of the ruling New Patriotic Party; a situation that seeks to compromise the integrity of the December 7, 2024 election.
“I would not want to mention names but they should go and check, that some members of the EC were TESCON patrons on campuses. This is an EC that declared multiple results during the 2020 elections and had to retract and correct their figures.”
“Just in the limited voter registration exercise, we saw a lot of issues with the registration process and we were of the view that it should have been decentralized rather than centralized where a lot of people had to travel over 50 kilometers to go and get their voter ID cards, So, clearly, this EC is just an extension of the New Patriotic Party,” he said.
Speaking on Pan African Television’s Good Morning Africa, he proposed that the appointment of an Electoral Commissioner should not be left in the hands of the president but rather through a bicameral parliamentary system.
He also could not fathom why the Electoral Commission proposed a CI to remove indelible ink in the country’s electoral process.
“How is it that an Electoral Commission could propose a CI that seeks to remove indelible ink from our electoral process. What is the rationale behind that,” Dr. Ramzi queried?
The Movement for Change Communicator who believes the current Electoral Commission cannot be trusted further implored them to do the right thing if they want the upcoming general election to be peaceful.
Dr. Sammy Ayeh, a member of the NDC Communications Team disclosed that the National Democratic Congress would closely monitor all activities of the Electoral Commission to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.
He said so far the NDC has unraveled deliberate attempts made by the Commission to give an undue advantage to the ruling New Patriotic Party in the December 7. polls.
Dr. Ayeh further questioned the appointment of party apparatchiks like Dr. Bossman Asare, Dr. Peter Appiahene and Madam Jean Adukwei Mensa as members of the commission.
“The people at the Electoral Commission are very significant when the analysis is being made. Look, Dr. Appiahene is a known NPP serial caller and propagandist who hops from one station to another campaigning for NPP. In fact, he is even more NPP than Bawumia and Akufo Addo. How can you go and appoint somebody like that to the electoral commission?”
“Look at Dr. Bossman Asare, a former TESCON patron. TESCON is the NPP students wing on campus and he was the patron. It means that he facilitates their activities and when NPP members are in trouble on campus, he is the one that goes and defends them. He uses his money to finance NPP activities on campus. How can you appoint somebody like that to the Electoral Commission, an institution that is supposed to be independent? Jane Mensa when you look at her attitude, how she speaks and her body language towards the NDC, it tells you that this is somebody who does not like the NDC. She does not see her position as an independent position but rather see her appointment as conterminous of the NPP regime. They see themselves as NPP ministers, NPP DCEs and NPP MPs rather than independent individuals who are supposed to carry out their mandates without fear or favour,” he emphasized.
Dr. Ayeh warned the Electoral Commission to discharge its mandate effectively and efficiently; adding that they will not be spared if their activities create any chaotic situation before, during and after the December 7, 2024 election.
Member of Parliament for Anyaa Sowutuom, Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi on the other hand, said no serious political party should depend on the Electoral Commission for its victory.
He believes that the various parties should be well equipped rather burdening the Electoral Commission with their inefficiencies.
Responding to allegations that the EC is creating an undue advantage for the ruling New Patriotic Party ahead of the upcoming polls, the Anyaa Sowutuom legislator encouraged the National Democratic Congress to rather convince Ghanaians to vote for them and stop the accusations.