Bagbin Says Government Has Prevented EC From Being An Impartial Referee

• Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin said the Akufo-Addo government has eroded the Electoral Commission's impartiality
• He said recent appointments to the EC's leadership have cast doubt on the commission's impartiality as some are politically exposed persons
• He noted that the government must help the EC to address these trust issues to prevent any disasters

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has accused the Akufo-Addo government of preventing the Electoral Commission from being an impartial referee in the upcoming 2024 elections.

The Speaker of Parliament indicated that the government has tampered with the EC’s impartiality by appointing persons with open political affiliation to the commission’s leadership.

He said this has created a growing sense of mistrust of the institution.

He added that certain utterances made by some EC commission members have also cast doubt on the commission’s impartiality and credibility as the elections draw near.

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He urged the government to resolve these issues to prevent any clashes or misunderstandings on election day.

“And so a party like the National Democratic Congress feels strongly that the Electoral Commission, as currently composed, is unfavourable to the party beyond the directors.”

He also urged the government to help address some logistical problems facing the EC.

Bagbin said the Electoral Commission has raised concerns about the lack of logistics and resources to do its work appropriately and effectively.

He said the government could provide these financial resources to allow the EC to meet its demands.

He said that if left unresolved, the country could experience serious consequences.

“And so, it’s for all of us to coalesce, work together to make sure that the right thing is done before election day, or else we are just playing with fire," he said.

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NDC to protests against EC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has announced plans to protest the Electoral Commission’s (EC) handling of discrepancies in the voter register on September 17.

The opposition party has been unhappy with the voter exhibition exercise, claiming some discrepancies.

After submitting presidential nomination forms on behalf of John Mahama, NDC Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah said the party would march to all regional Electoral Commission offices.

Nketiah also said national executives will present a formal petition at the Electoral Commission’s head office in Accra.

EC corrects error on register

YEN.com.gh reported that the Electoral Commission (EC) had corrected the initial data on persons registered during the voter registration exercise.

The EC said 143,014 persons were registered but noted mistakes in the figures for the Upper East Region.

The National Democratic Congress has been disputing the commission's figures, saying the actual figures are lower.

Source: YEN.com.gh