The Director of Elections and IT of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Dr Omane Boamah, has called on party agents to disregard a recent directive from the Deputy Chairman Operations of the Electoral Commission (EC), which allegedly aims to facilitate gerrymandering by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In a strongly worded statement, Dr Boamah, accused the Deputy Chairman Operations of accepting a bribe from the NPP to manipulate the electoral boundaries to their advantage.
He questioned the integrity of the EC and the NPP, suggesting that their actions are driven by a desire to hide unscrupulous activities from the public eye.
“What does the EC and the NPP have to hide such that they do not want agents of political parties to observe the ongoing voter transfer exercise?” Dr Boamah questioned.
He further challenged the EC on whether they would also prevent legitimate Civil Society Organisations from observing the process.
Dr Boamah, highlighted the EC’s past failings, including their inability to accurately collate the 2020 presidential election results and difficulties with using basic tools like Excel for voter registration totals. “We are living in a very volatile electoral environment,” he noted, emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability in the electoral process.
The crux of Dr Boamah’s argument centered on the impracticality of the EC’s expectation that a Returning Officer alone could verify the authenticity of a voter’s 12-month residency requirement in Ghana’s largely informal society. He argued that preventing party agents from observing the voter transfer exercise only serves to undermine the credibility of the upcoming elections.
“The EC by this directive to stop agents of political parties from observing the ongoing voter transfer exercise has once again proven to the NDC that they’re not interested in free, fair, and transparent elections,” NDC Director of election asserted.
In response to this directive, the NDC has instructed its agents, as well as regional and constituency executives, to ignore the EC’s order.
He cited an agreement from the recent Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on May 29, 2024, in the presence of EC Chairperson Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensah, which allegedly supports their stance.
The NDC insists that their agents will appear at EC offices to ensure the integrity of the electoral process and safeguard the peace of the nation. “No gerrymandering!” Dr Boamah declared, affirming the party’s commitment to protecting Ghana’s democracy.
Boamha concluded by stating that there is no legal basis for the EC’s directive to exclude party agents from observing the voter transfer exercise, and vowed that the NDC would not allow “a few partisanly biased people working at the EC to destroy our cherished democracy.”
