The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are at each other’s throats over the decision of the Electoral Commission to prevent party agents from observing the ongoing transfer of votes.
While the opposition NDC thinks the decision is unilateral and can undermine the integrity of the December polls, the governing party says it is in the right direction.
The Electoral Commission recently issued a directive to its Regional Directors not to permit party agents to observe the ongoing transfer of votes.
Dr. Edward Omane Boamah
The directive according to the EC was made in response to several clashes that have transpired at its district offices, aiming to maintain order and security during the process.
This decision is supported by the governing NPP whose former campaign manager Peter Mac Manu spoke to the media after an IPAC meeting.
However, the NDC argues that this directive could potentially facilitate gerrymandering through unlawful voter transfers, undermining the integrity of the electoral process.
Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, the NDC’s Director of Elections and IT, criticized the EC’s unilateral decision, arguing it should have been made in consultation with political parties.
“There is an IPAC meeting today this morning and what was the brain wave that made the EC issue that statement without coming back to IPAC for us to discuss that we need to modify it and we either agree or disagree or have a middle ground and modify but you take a unilateral decision to go ahead and announce that political parties cannot have agents to monitor the transfer of vote?
General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, had earlier described the EC’s directive as disgusting and outrageous, which he said is “clearly calculated to aid gerrymandering through illegal voter transfers.”
The NDC’s General Secretary in a June 3 statement also accused the EC of colluding with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to tint the transparency of the process.
The NDC has therefore instructed its agents to defy the EC’s directive. The transfer of votes and the application for proxy voting will end on June 14, 2024.
Meanwhile, National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) Albert Arhin says EC’s instruction not to permit party agents to observe the ongoing transfer of votes is lawful as it will prevent the pockets of violent incidents recorded at some of its centers with the known one occurring in the Awutu Senya East Constituency of the Central Region.
