Electoral Commission and matters arising
When I was a little boy in primary school, my favourite Bible passage went like this: I am for peace but when I speak they are for war. It surprises me up till now that even though I like the passage very much, I have still not been able to commit its exact location in the bible into memory.
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Of late, the verse keeps popping up in my mind whenever I think of the Electoral Commission (EC) and its many ‘battles’ with some democratic institutions.
Attacks on EC
Some attacks on the EC have centered on its role in the 2012 elections and others even on the personality of its current chairperson.
We all remember that the EC was dragged before the Supreme Court in the famous electoral dispute at the time in 2013. During the occasion there were many who felt that the EC’s performance was not sublime and the commission itself accepted that it had made some mistakes along the line in the conduct of that year’s elections.
That is why with a new page now opened, it is assumed that the opportunity had come for it to restore lost grounds, get all parties on board and wean itself of any tag that might go to diminish its reputation and give it the character of mistrust.
Voters register
If Ghana is to make further inroads into her democratic credentials, it can only do so with an EC that is believed by all and not by some. Of particular concern is the issue with the voters register.
All stakeholders in the electoral process agree that the register needs some form of correction but are divergent when it comes to ways of rectifying the errors and inaccuracies that would make the document clean.
A five-member team empanelled by the commission and led by Justice VCRAC Crabbe that listened to submissions from political parties and civil society organisations, called for the voters register to be validated.
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Now the question is: What is validation? According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, to validate means to confirm the truth or value of something or to make or declare legally valid.
But there has to be a process of confirmation in order to make the document legally valid. The ongoing brouhaha which gave vent to the ‘Baamu Yarda’ demonstration in Kumasi last Wednesday has all to do with the series of steps or actions towards achieving a clean register.
Quick decision
With just about seven months to November when the country would be going to the polls, a decision ought to be taken quickly on the register. One that would go to assuage feelings on all sides. In that vein it is pertinent that all actors in the matter are called to the negotiating table to trash out issues.
It would not do the country any good at this point, should any faction dig its heels in and refuse to give some ground.
In order to appear neutral and shame the doubting Thomases, the EC in particular must explain how it is going to go about validating the voters register such that it is accepted by all stakeholders.
While at it, the commission must also come clean on some aspects, including its relationship with STL and allegation that the chairperson had once stood on the ticket of the NDC as an aspiring parliamentary candidate for the Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region.
Even though the commission after the elections in 2012 said it had no dealings with STL, recent pronouncements by the Minister of the Interior and the National Security Advisor to the effect that the EC had some relations with STL gives the impression of something gone amiss.
In spite of these, the EC remains an important cog in the wheel of Ghana’s democratic process. It has served this country well and there is no doubt that with the right and conducive environment, it will live up to its mandate.
It is incumbent, therefore, that we all lend a hand to help it succeed with this year’s elections.