The Electoral Commission has responded to concerns by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) concerning the integrity of the voters’ register for the upcoming by-election at Ayawaso West Wuogon in Accra.
Communicators of the NDC had accused the EC of frustrating the party by refusing to provide them with a credible voters’ register for the by-election.
They also criticized the leadership of the EC Chairperson Jean Mensa, saying she may jeopardize the credibility of the election slated for Thursday, January 31, 2019.
The NDC earlier petitioned the EC to provide it with a credible voters’ register ahead of the poll.
They also claimed the register might have been bloated.
Speaking to Citi News, Communications Officer of the party, Sammy Gyamfi said, “it is important for us to call on Jean Mensa to sit up.”
“We keep saying that the Jean Mensa-led EC is a looming disaster which portends danger for free and fair elections in this country and for the democracy of Ghana.”
“As Ghanaians, we should all be worried about what is going on because these things do not help the credibility and integrity of the process. It doesn’t engender the confidence, as stakeholders, we need to have in this process.”
But a statement from the EC sighted by citinewsroom.com described the NDC’s claims as “untrue.”
“The NDC requested a copy of the said lists [proxy list, transfer list and special voters’ list] late on Friday, the 25th of January 2019, when the activities at the Commission had winded down. It is significant to note that the author of the press release has unlimited access to the Chairman responsible for Operations, and could have reached him without much effort.”
The Commission finds it surprising, that rather than approaching the Commission to discuss this issue, the NDC chose to go public, accusing the Commission of bloating the register to favour a particular political party. These allegations are baseless and unfounded and we call on the public to disregard them.”
“We wish to assure the public that the Ayawaso Wuogon register is clean. It reflects the total number of valid voters in the constituency. It is not bloated as claimed by the NDC.”
Three persons; Madam Lydia Esinam Alhassan of the New Patriotic Party, Delali Kwasi Brempong representing the NDC, and William Dowokpor of the Progressive People’s Party are contesting the by-election.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin
