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The African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to take steps to work to win the trust of all its stakeholders, saying it is not too late to do so.
Dr. Ibn Chambas was delivering a speech at the maiden edition of the Diplomatic Honours in Accra, where he offered a number of recommendations to help reverse what he described as a regression in democratic gains.
He suggested that the EC, for instance, can publish polling station results on its website during elections to enhance the transparency of the polls, a call he said, has been made by many.
“It is not too late to work to win the trust and confidence of all parties and stakeholders in the electoral process. Specifically, ensuring the publication of polling station results on the website of the Electoral Commission is one measure that will greatly advance and enhance the credibility and transparency of the process, and this will sound like music to some of our partners here who have made this recommendation time and again,” he said.
Ghana’s main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is locked in a bitter disagreement with the Electoral Commission over the latter’s recent compilation of a voters’ register.
The register is to be used for the 2024 general elections.
While the NDC alleges that the register is fraught with anomalies, the EC maintains that the complaints, which emanate from the initial register compilation processes, have been addressed following the exhibition of the draft register.
The EC has consequently challenged the NDC to provide it and other stakeholders, including other political parties, the particulars of the party’s further complaints for redress. However, the NDC, citing mistrust for the EC, has called on its members and sympathisers, to join in nation-wide demonstrations to demand that the EC submits to a ‘forensic audit’.
And on Saturday, September 14, while speaking on Newsfile on Joy FM, the Deputy Chairman for Corporate Services of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, reiterated the appeal to former President Mahama to bring the NDC to the discussion table to address discrepancies the party has raised with the provisional voters register.
He maintained that the Commission has so far addressed all discrepancies identified with the provisional voters register but will address any further discrepancies that the NDC would bring to the discussion table, entreating the NDC to contact the EC any day of the week to meet with the Commission’s team, other political parties and stakeholders to resolve all issues.
