The largest opposition party, NDC has again taken on the Electoral Commission, serving notice that, failure to abide bit its own electoral laws, ostensibly to help manipulate the December 7 elections shall be met with resolute resistance.
The party, what has vowed never to seek redress in Court again, following how the 2020 Presidential election petition case was handled, says EC’s posturing towards serious infractions identified in the ongoing voter registration exercise, is deepening suspicion.
General Secretary of the party, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey who addressed a news conference on Wednesday, May 16, 2024 said it will serve its own interest and by extension the peace of the entire nation if it strictly adheres to CI 127, which governs the conduct of the general elections.
Mr Kwetey emphasized that the NDC, haven’t learnt lessons, is fully equipped and prepared to respond with unwavering determination to defend the sanctity of our votes and the democratic future of Ghana.
He noted .. “It is imperative that the EC recognizes the critical nature of its mandate and the profound risk our country faces if it fails to perform its duties responsibly. We remain vigilant and are fully prepared to ensure that come January 2025, power will be peacefully transferred to a government elected by the people, for the people, under the leadership of our visionary, John Dramani Mahama, and Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman”
The NDC is also accusing the EC of breaching Regulation 8 (1) and (2) of CI 91, as amended by CI 126; a law which mandates the EC to publish the names and pictures of persons it proposes to appoint as registration supervisors, registration officers, registration assistants, and any other officials for the centers, not later than fourteen days before they are appointed.
“We submit that the EC has acted unlawfully by violating Regulation 8 (1) and (2) of CI 91, as amended by CI 126. The law states: 1. The Commission shall make available to the interested persons or parties at the district office the names and pictures of persons it proposes to appoint as registration supervisors, registration officers, registration assistants, and any other officials for the centers, not later than fourteen days before they are appointed. 2.
A registered political party or an interested person may, in writing, object to any person proposed for appointment as a registration supervisor, a registration officer, a registration 6 assistant, or any other official within seven days after the names of the proposed officers have been made available.” .. he explained
On the ongoing registration exercise, the NDC questioned EC’s preparedness especially about the technical challenges affecting the registration process, its decision to limit internet accessibility to only one network, compelling it to resort to offline registration.
Another critical issue raised today was about the distorted figures on registered voters.
You will recall the EC admitted the mistakes but watered down concerned raised after it claimed they have been corrected.
But the NDC insists the EC merely swapped figures and its record still don’t tally.
He explained “It will astonish you to learn that even their revised figures is still riddled with errors and needs further corrections. 11 For instance, in the Oti Region, the Day 2 figure of 578 was erroneously swapped with Day 3’s figure of 1,515. If these figures are realigned correctly, Day 2’s national total should be 18,330, not 19,267; Day 3’s total should be 49,553, not 48,616. Similarly, Day 3 figure for Bono East as stated in their corrected data is 771.
But this is totally wrong. Bono East recorded 2,252 per our provisional data. This figure will affect the total registered voters of 5,118 for Bono East for the four days as stated by the EC. Indeed, the total should rather be 6,599 thereby leading to a grand total of 144,495 and not 143,014 as put out by Dr. Bossman Asare at his press conference on the 12th of May 2024”
The NDC Chief Scribe wondered what to expect of the EC, which is making mistakes with compilation of figures from its district offices will put across when electoral results from polling stations begin to trickle in on December 7th
As the NDC put it … ‘Such dubious behavior from the EC could destabilize our democracy if left unchecked. Imagine the potential chaos on December 7th, 2024, if the EC continues to release incorrect figures’
The party has since appealed to the National Peace Council, the Peace Council, CSOs and other stakeholders to take note and intervene before its too late.
“We are issuing a firm notice to the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission: the 2024 elections will not be business as usual! We are also here to declare unequivocally that any attempt by the EC to violate CI 127, which governs the conduct of the general elections, will be met with resolute resistance from us. We will not stand idly by while the EC undermines the time-tested electoral processes that are well recognized and respected by all stakeholders.
Why should we, as a nation, accept anything less than adherence to the regulations that safeguard the integrity of our elections? We must all commit to upholding the various Constitutional Instruments that regulate our registration exercises and elections. This commitment is essential to ensuring peace, stability, and the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections on December 7, 2024.
Therefore, we call upon the National Peace Council, Civil Society Organizations, religious bodies, and indeed all Ghanaians to take an active interest in the processes leading up to the 2024 elections. It is only through collective vigilance and active participation that we can safeguard our democratic processes”
