As the December polls draw near, the posturing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Electoral Commission, along with their indecisive stance on national electoral matters, threatens to plunge the nation into chaos and violence if not addressed with caution. The silence from the Peace Council, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and other stakeholders must be broken; otherwise, our democracy risks being dismantled by the current EC commissioners.
Speaking on the Adekyee Mu Nsem morning show on Ahotor, hosted by Citizen Kofi Owusu in Accra, Dr. Rashid Tanko-Computer, Deputy Director of Election and IT, voiced his reservations. He criticized the EC’s directive or memo stating that henceforth, political parties need not assign any party agents to Electoral Commission offices nationwide during the voter transfer exercise. Dr. Tanko-Computer deemed this directive unfortunate and bizarre, citing discrepancies in data collation that erode trust in the EC. He emphasized the necessity for the NDC, as a major stakeholder, to scrutinize directives from the commission, given its perceived lack of trustworthiness.
Dr. Rashid further alleged that the EC is in collusion with the incumbent government to undermine democracy. He cautioned that the NDC would not allow the NPP to jeopardize the nation’s stability by dismantling the safeguards established by previous administrations.
In response, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has instructed all its agents nationwide to defy the Electoral Commission’s memo to its district officers, which seeks to exclude party agents from the ongoing vote transfer exercise. Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, the General Secretary of the NDC, condemned the EC’s directive as repugnant and outrageous, accusing it of facilitating gerrymandering through illicit voter transfers.
Kwetey alleged that the EC’s actions are aimed at tarnishing the transparency of the electoral process, purportedly in collaboration with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). He urged the outright defiance of the directive, describing it as part of the EC’s suspected agenda to manipulate the processes leading to the 2024 elections.
Consequently, the NDC has called on all its agents nationwide to disregard the EC’s directive. They have instructed all party structures, particularly regional and constituency secretariats, to deploy NDC agents to all district offices of the EC to closely monitor the ongoing voter transfer exercise.
Attached is the statement below:
