The African Electoral Institute wish to commend the National Democratic Congress ( NDC) for successfully organizing a peaceful demonstration on Tuesday 17TH September 2024 to press home their demand for the Electoral Commission (Ghana) to allow for the 2024 voter register to be subjected to forensic audit.
1, The 1992 constitution allows that citizens who maybe aggrieved of anything or policy which is not popular or at variance with their beliefs and aspirations, to resort or use some tools to put forward their grievances to the relevant authorities for redress. One such tool is demonstration as was done by the NDC instead of resorting to violence or any other means that is unconstitutional.
2, The African Electoral Institute wish to reiterate once again its commitment to good democratic governance in Ghana, and good governance everywhere can be possible if the process or processes leading to change in governments or endorsing sitting governments via elections are NOT made laborious.
This the African Electoral Institute believes is achievable with free, fair, transparent, and accountable elections, which start with having a healthy, robust, and acceptable voters register to all political stakeholders.
3, The African Electoral Institute believes that having the voters register subjected to forensic audit is NOT going to be injurious to the Electoral Commission but rather enhance its credibility and commitment to organizing a free and fair elections which will honour the EC and the country as a whole. AEI therefore urges the EC to take a second look at their stance.
4, The African Electoral Institute was equally happy to hear both the Minority and Majority leaders of Parliament expressing their willingness for Parliament to be reconvened to look into this issue when the NDC presented a copy of their petition to them, to come up with a workable solution that will put this impasse to an end to the satisfaction of all parties . This is in line with our call on the Parliament of Ghana through a press release and a letter dated 16th September, 2024, to take up this matter.
5, In view of the foregoing, the African Electoral Institute wish to remind the Electoral Commission of Ghana and all political stakeholders that they owe the people of Ghana nothing but peace and should do everything possible in their power to make sure this country remains intact as one unit before, during and after the elections come 7th December 2024, anything short of this will be unacceptable and they shall be held responsible by Ghanaians.
SIGNED:
*HEAD OF ELECTORAL SECURITY DEPARTMENT*
*Ex.WO1 Alhaji Yussif Mahamah*
*(0243311965)*
Mr. Emmanuel Biri
Second Deputy Communication Director and External Relations.
*About Us:*
African Electoral Institute ( AEI) is a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) founded to deliver sustainable electoral solutions to Emerging and Developed Democracies to strengthen, augment, and build electoral stakeholders capacity and participation on electoral issues through electoral education on voter’s rights and freedom, electoral research, election monitoring, election observation, election results collation, election security awareness and training of polling agents and elections directors underscoring the fact that “elections are won at the polling stations’’ and the participation of all identifiable electoral stakeholders in an electoral process such as Political Parties, Governmental Institutions, underpinning transparency and accountability for a free, fair, and credible elections in Africa and the wider world.
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