Jean Mensa – Chairperson of EC
The Youth Bridge Foundation has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to publish all pre-election activities towards the 2020 general elections.
The foundation is also calling on the EC to avoid crash timetable in order to ensure clarity and certainty in the minds of the commission and all election stakeholders regarding what must be done before election.
The foundation made the call on the EC in a press release signed by Prof. Ransford Gyampo, Ag. Head of Youth Bridge Foundation.
According to him, the EC engages itself in a number of activities, including voter registration, exhibition of voters’ register, creation of constituencies, among others, which tend to overstretch the capacity of the commission to successfully undertake and accomplish all its pre-election activities prior to the general elections.
“Sometimes, certain key activities are undertaken in a rush and at the time when key participants or target groups are unavailable. Key electoral activities have been held in predominantly student dominated areas at the time when students were on vacation,” he explained.
Prof. Gyampo indicated that serious election-related decisions and activities have been undertaken in the heat of the electioneering campaign when political parties are busy touring the country and campaigning, adding that “these have created needless suspicion and misunderstanding between the commission and its major stakeholders.”
“We, therefore, urge the commission to publish well defined programme outline with timeline to ensure certainty in the implementation of its activities,” he averred.
Prof. Gyampo said the commission must not wait till the eleventh hour to rush through implementation, as things done in a rush are susceptible to costly mistakes, and are a recipe for distrust, tension and the raising of needless alarms over minor issues that could ideally pass without qualms.
“We finally wish to remind the commission that the need to publish well-defined timelines to guide all pre-election activities and to avoid the implementation of programmes in a rash was part of the major recommendations for electoral reform accepted by the commission, we therefore urge the commission to act now to avoid rush,” he added.
By Abigail Owiredu-Boateng