The Busia Institute for Rural and Democratic Development (BIRDD) has lauded the Electoral Commission (EC) for the ‘impressive work’ it has done towards the conduct of the 2020 polls.
According to the group, the electoral management body under the leadership of its Chairperson, Madam Jean Mensa has “mustered courage and braced the odds to carry out one of the most successful voter registration exercises in Ghana’s electoral history”.
In a statement ahead of the December 7 presidential and parliamentary election, the institute also urged political parties, candidates and other electoral stakeholders to collaborate worth EC to ensure a free, fair and credible election.
Here is the full statement signed by the Executive Director of the Busia Institute, Anane Agyei.
KUDOS TO THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF GHANA
As we prepare to go to the polls on Monday, 7 December 2020, for the presidential and parliamentary elections, we wish to express commendation to the Electoral Commission (EC) for the impressive work done so far.
At the onset of the preparations for the 2020 elections, there appeared to be impending gloom and doom, especially with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Commission, led by Ms Jean Mensah, mustered courage and braced the odds to carry out one of the most successful voter registration exercises in Ghana’s electoral history.
Even the expression of concern by some medical practitioners and civil society groups that the registration exercise was going to engender widespread Covid-19 cases never materialised as the EC put in place the needed Covid-19 protocols, which many Ghanaians also followed strictly, thereby making the exercise smooth and safe.
We commend the EC and encourage them to keep up the good work by ensuring that 2020 goes down as one of Ghana’s best election years. BIRDD commends the EC because we believe that we must not be a people interested only in finding faults and condemning people and institutions at the slightest mistake but also to give praise when praise is due.
We are particularly happy about the outstanding performance of the Electoral Commissioner for her splendid and sterling performance. She epitomises the quintessential Ghanaian woman who priorities excellence in her duties for the general good of society.
It should be noted that the EC, as a human institution, is likely to commit some errors as it carries out a huge mandate of dealing with over 17 million registered voters in thousands of polling stations. When any such errors happen, we must try and help the Commission to resolve the problems but not to balloon the errors with the intention of giving the dog a bad name so as to hang it. The success of the EC and of the election is a responsibility of all citizens of Ghana as it would not only promote peace but will enhance the country’s status as a beacon of democracy.
We wish to call on all stakeholders, especially the political parties and candidates in the election and all Ghanaians to do their best to cooperate with the EC to make the elections successful by all standards. It is through such cooperation that we may prove Dr K A Busia right in his axiom that ‘We in Ghana are determined to show that we value freedom and that we are capable of learning and displaying the discipline, the tolerance, the responsibility, and the restraint required to make democratic life a success.’
God bless Ghana.
