EC Defends Re-Collation Process, Says Process Is Not Unprecedented In Ghana's Electoral History

• The Electoral Commission said its decision to re-collate results from nine constituencies is not unprecedented
• It noted that the erstwhile Afari Gyan-led commission re-collated and re-declared several electoral results in his time
• The Electoral Commission further listed a few instances of re-collation in Ghana's history in support of its argument

Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) has defended its decision to re-collate results from nine constituencies after they were initially collated and declared.

The electoral body explained that re-collating results after an initial declaration was not unprecedented in the country’s democratic history.

In an X post on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, the Electoral Commission shared instances where re-collation had led to changes in previously declared outcomes.

The EC stressed that its mandate remained to ensure that results declared during collation were accurate and fair.

The EC cited a 1998 incident where the Afari Gyan-led Electoral Commission overturned an earlier declaration in the Dompoase Kokwaado Electoral Area in the KEEA District and declared the correct candidate the winner.

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In 2004, the Afari Gyan-led EC re-collated parliamentary results in the Pru constituency and overturned the initial declaration favouring the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate.

That same year, the Tolon constituency results were also re-collated, and the correct candidate was declared.

Similarly, the Yapei-Kusawgu and Zabzugu constituencies were re-collated, and the rightful winners were declared.

Mahama urges EC to be fair

Meanwhile, President-elect John Mahama has urged the EC to be fair, consistent, and integrity-minded in its decisions concerning the disputed parliamentary results.

He said this in reaction to the EC’s decision not to uphold the declaration of parliamentary results in nine constituencies.

The EC had argued that some of these declarations were made under duress and had breached procedural rules. Affected constituencies include Ablekuma North, Dome Kwabenya, Nsawam Adoagyiri and Techiman South.

However, Mahama noted that the EC was being selective in its application of rules, arguing that a similar incident in the 2020 election had been treated differently.

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NDC rejects re-collation results

YEN.com.gh also reported that the National Democratic Congress had challenged the results announced by the EC from the re-collation centres.

So far, the new ruling party has lost about seven seats it had previously claimed to have won during the initial collation after these recounts.

The party had further threatened to deal with all those involved in the re-collation exercise once John Mahama and others came into office.

Proofread by Bruce Douglas, senior copy editor at YEN.com.gh

Source: YEN.com.gh