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Election offences
should be prosecuted
Ho, March 11, Ghanadot/GNA - Dr Kwadwo
Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) on
Tuesday said those who flout the country’s electoral laws
should be prosecuted in order to end “political impunity”
during elections.
Speaking at the special Regional Inter-party Advisory
Committee (RIPAC) meeting in Ho under the Commission’s
“safeguarding the integrity of the ballot” project, he said
it was the duty of the police to bring such offenders to
book.
The meeting was organized in collaboration with the Canadian
International Development Agency and the KAB Governance
Consult.
Dr Afari-Gyan made the call in response to a catalogue of
concerns raised mainly by representatives of the National
Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party (NPP)
representatives regarding abuses during the last elections
in the region.
Asked by the Ghana News Agency whether it was not the
responsibility of the Commission to initiate such
prosecutions, Dr Afari-Gyan said that was the duty of the
police to whom the Commission has made several complaints.
He said both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) were guilty of polluting the
election atmosphere in the country.
Dr Afari-Gyan said abuses of the country’s Electoral laws
seemed to arise from the leeway the Commission had given to
the political parties.
“We have been too transparent with the parties, sometimes we
have to step back,” he said.
Dr Afari-Gyan said if only the political parties would
adhere to the country’s electoral arrangements every
election report would be verifiable.
He said both the NDC and the NPP when in power turned the
police into political and government police during
elections, and did not allow them to act professionally.
That he said created problems for the Police establishment
and its personnel when the reins of government changed.
“We are not treating them fairly,” he said.
Dr Afari-Gyan told the political parties that the calibre of
people they appointed as party agents were essential to
safeguarding their interests during elections.
Ms Laurentia Kpatakpa, Volta Regional Director of the EC
said the integrity of Ghana’s Electoral process rested in
the checks and balances within the system which when
operated properly would produce outcomes that are
acceptable, verifiable and could be audited at every stage.
She said the 2008 elections should be a learning experience
for the country, using best practices accepted globally to
improve on subsequent elections in the country.
“We wish to re-iterate that when we make regulations and
laws we have a duty to uphold them. Non-compliance could
result in chaos.
“If party executives fail to submit lists and information on
agents appointed by them for accreditation, we do not see
how the returning officer could certify the agent’s
application authorizing him to work at a Polling Station or
Collation Centre,” Ms Kpatakpa said.
The meeting called on the National Commission for Civic
Education (NCCE), the Information Services Department (ISD)
and the EC to collaborate and that adequate resources should
be made available to them to carry out education on
elections.
It was also suggested that Chiefs should be included in
stakeholder forums on elections such as the RIPAC meeting
because of the influence they wielded over the conduct of
their people in the last elections.
The meeting agreed that people could capture events at the
polling stations on their mobile camera phones as proof of
allegations that might be raised.
It was explained that there was no law that limited
political parties to choosing their agents from localities
in which they would be guarding the elections, but it was
important that such agents were conversant with the people
and localities where they would be representing their
parties’ interests.
GNA
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