Civil society organization, the OneGhana Movement wants security agencies to begin an immediate and independent investigation into deaths and injuries suffered by some individuals during the just-ended parliamentary and presidential election.
The pressure group which is disturbed by the damages, injuries and deaths is also demanding the prosecution and sanctioning of persons behind the violent crimes to serve as a deterrent and prevent a recurrence.
In a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Emily Nyuur, the OneGhana Movement, condemned the pockets of violence while childing the two main political parties – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) for failing to ensure that the polls were incident-free.
“We demand an independent probe into circumstances that led to the death of the five people as well as the injury of 17 persons. We demand swift prosecution and sanctions for all perpetrators including EC officers and security personnel caught in breaches of the law. , the group noted.
OneGhana Movement is also asking the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to regularly update citizens on actions taken over similar infractions recorded during the voter registration exercise.
The group further took on the NPP and NDC for claiming to be victorious in the polls ahead of the official declaration by the Electoral Commission (EC)
“It was sad that the two main political parties New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) organized several press conferences claiming victory ahead of the declaration of results by the EC. As this was the eighth election in the 4th Republic, it was shameful that this behavior which characterized past elections was repeated despite appeals against it ahead of December 7.”
Meanwhile, OneGhana is unhappy that the EC marred the integrity of the polls with the errors over the presidential results.
It is therefore urging the electoral management to render an apology to the electorate for the blunder caused.
“The EC is reminded that the confidence in our democracy is significantly hinged on the legitimacy of our elections. We, therefore, urge it to improve its processes, people, openness, and cooperation with stakeholders in pursuit of accuracy and transparency than just speed.
It adding that “the EC has had to correct errors after its declaration of the Presidential results on December 9. It is reported to have made further corrections on its website and social media handles. These errors, be they marginal, are unpardonable and only create doubts about the credibility of the results as declared. This dangerous but avoidable development by the Independent Referee- the EC has the potential to throw the country into chaos. The EC must apologize and assure citizens that this will never be repeated.