Allow Lloyd Evans and Mac Kwame to contest - GJA adjudication committee
The Elections Dispute Adjudication Committee (EDAC) of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has concluded that Mr Lloyd Evans and Mr Mathew Mac Kwame should be given the opportunity to contest the upcoming national elections of the association.
According to the EDAC, "candidates who were disqualified from contesting the elections on the basis other than (i) not being members or (ii) whose membership was below three years should be given the opportunity to contest the elections."
Mr Evans filed to contest the presidential position of the association while Mr Mac Kwame filed to contest as vice- president.
The two, among other aspirants, were earlier disqualified by the elections Committee for various reasons.
Disqualification
In disqualifying them, the Election Committee said Mr Evans and Mr Mac Kwame failed to meet the requirement under Article 47 (b) (iii) which states that “All members aspiring for
Executive positions at the National level must be members in good standing, at least ninety (90) days before the elections."
That meant that even though they paid their dues in February and were in good standing as members and could even vote in the elections, they were, however, not qualified to contest the national executive position per Article 47 (b) of the GJA Constitution.
The elections had originally be planned to be held on March 31, 2017 but it was postponed indefinitely because of the petitions that followed the disqualification and the fact that the adjudication committee needed more time to hear the petitions.
Petition
In various petitions to the EDAC by the two aspirants, and that of two other interested third parties, Charles Benoni Okine and Enoch Darfah Frimpong, both of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, the petitioners argued that the date for the elections was a surprise to them and that going by the status quo, there was no equity in the manner the disqualifications were done, especially as the national executives of the association had flouted some provisions in the constitution with regard to the processes leading to the elections.
Adjudication Committee
In a statement issued in Accra last Friday and signed by the Chairman of the three member committee, Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, the committee said it had concluded hearing of petitions
regarding the 2017 GJA elections and that: “Candidates who were disqualified from contesting the elections on the basis other than (i) not being members or (ii) whose membership was below
three years should be given the opportunity to contest the elections.” The statement said the committee has submitted a copy of its report to the GJA Executive.
“We wish to take this opportunity to thank the Election Committee (EC), the GJA Executives, the petitioners and all stakeholders for their cooperation and support throughout the process of the
hearing.”
“We do hope that all stakeholders of the GJA will accept the decision in good faith for the overall well-being of the association,” it added.
“In this vein, the EC is advised to lift the indefinite postponement of the elections for the process to take its course,” the statement concluded.
The other members of the committee are Mr Michael Boadu from the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana and Mr Zakaria Tanko Musah, a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism
(GIJ).
‘Give Evans, Mac Kwame chance to contest GJA elections’ We do hope that all stakeholders of the GJA will accept the decision in good faith for the overall wellbeing of the association.
effectiveness.
