A former Deputy Minister of Information Felix Kwakye Ofosu has described the decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to disallow party agents from monitoring the voter transfer exercise as senseless.
He wondered why the parties should not have agents representing them at the centers.
“What is it with the current leadership of the EC and senseless decision-making? Why should parties not have agents at EC offices to monitor the voter transfer process?” He wrote on X.
Mr Ofosu Kwakye’s party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had rejected EC’s directive to political parties to recall their agents from its offices in the ongoing voter transfer exercise.
During an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on Monday, the NDC maintained its position not to withdraw its agents, asking its agents to ignore the EC’s ‘outrageous’ directive.
Also, the NDC noted that it had information indicating that the NPP was moving some voters from different constituencies to increase their votes in certain constituencies.
But commenting on this development, the National Coordinator of the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) Albert Arhin has said the Electoral Commission was magnanimous to allow the party agents to monitor the voter transfer process because there is no law backing it.
He said that this is the very first time the Commission is allowing political parties to send their agents to monitor the voter transfer exercise.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Monday June 3, he said “As for the assurance, the Commission said it again and again. They gave assurance that there’s nothing untoward they would do and that they are going to be as transparent as ever. They even emphasized the fact that this is not even in the law they have allowed them to go and it shows the extent to which they can be magnanimous in granting this wish.
“I was surprised when I got there because it has never happened in any transfer of votes that you send people there as observers…it’s the first time and look at what has happened.
“So my personal view is that the way this thing is going, either the peace council can come in and talk to both parties so that peace can prevail. If we forget about it and let this thing to continue, we are not going to have a peaceful transfer of votes. It is sending a bad signal to this year’s election.”
Source: 3news.com