The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, has urged the security agencies to make public the findings from the investigations conducted into the circumstances that led to the killing of seven persons during the 2020 general elections.
According to Jean Mensa, the recommendations will make elections in subsequent years better.
Speaking at a high-level ECOWAS Parliamentary Seminar in Winneba, Jean Mensa described the loss of seven lives as sad.
“Sadly, seven lives were lost, and though these did not occur at our polling stations or arise as a result of misconduct on our part, one life lost is one too many. We are hoping that our security agencies will share their findings and recommendations for future learning”.
Madam Jean Mensa also described the 2020 General election as historic, transparent, efficient, and cost-effective.
According to her, the fact that the comparative cost of the election was reduced by 41% which is equivalent to 90 million dollars and a voter turn-around time of between 10 and 12 minutes makes the election exemplary within the West African sub-region.
“Notwithstanding inflation and price hikes and the fact that we incurred additional costs owing to the COVID-19 protocols we deployed throughout the election, we cut the cost per voter, from 13 dollars per head in 2016 to 7 dollars per head. Through a reduction in cost, we saved the government a formidable sum of $90 million.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Boamah Otokunor, disagrees with Jean Mensa’s assertion that the 2020 general election was credible and cost-effective.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Otokunor said contrary to Jean Mensa’s claim, the 2020 poll was the most expensive as the country spent so much on replacing the voters’ register.
“This is the most expensive election ever held in the country because we spent almost a billion to replace a register that was not faulty just to go and buy another register which was problematic.”
