EC must act with impartiality - President Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged the Electoral Commission to conduct the December 7 polls with impartiality, independence and integrity.
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He said the EC had a critical role to play as the body charged to oversee the electoral process, and it must “ensure that the process is fair to all parties, and that the results reflect the true will of the people”.
“The commission should also ensure that all logistical arrangements are in place to facilitate a smooth voting process and any disputes that arise are handled expeditiously and transparently,” President Akufo-Addo gave the charge at the annual Conference of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in Kumasi yesterday.
The conference, on the theme, “Peaceful, fair and transparent elections: the key to sustainable democracy” attracted members of the legal profession, leadership of legal and judicial institutions, including members of the Judicial Council, Justices of the Supreme Court (retired and in active service); Justices of other Superior Courts of Judicature and Ministers of State.
Also at the conference was the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who was the special guest, and the Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Rita Akosua Dickson, among others.
Allow EC to declare
President Akufo-Addo cautioned political parties against declaring results before the EC did so, because that could lead to confusion, misinformation and potential conflict.
“It is imperative that the Electoral Commission remains the sole authority responsible for declaring election results, to preserve the integrity and credibility of the electoral process,” the President urged.
He said that responsibility of the EC was essential to maintain public trust in the electoral system and to prevent undermining democracy through the spread of unverified or false election outcomes.
Security
President Akufo-Addo said the security agencies also had a crucial role in maintaining law and order during the election period, stressing that their presence should be felt, but it also should be measured.
“They should ensure that they act within the confines of the law, protecting the rights of all citizens while preventing any form of violence or intimidation by enforcing strictly the law against vigilantism,” he stated.
The President also had a word for civil society organisations, the media and citizens themselves, urging them to play their part.
For the Judiciary, the final arbiter of electoral disputes, President Akufo-Addo said it had an indispensable role in safeguarding the integrity of elections.
“The independence, partiality and credibility of the judiciary are fundamental to ensuring that electoral disputes are resolved justly and without bias,” he stated, adding,
“As we move towards another election, I urge the judiciary to continue to uphold these high standards”.
He said the courts should remain a place where all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation, could seek redress with confidence that their cases would be heard fairly and impartially. President Akufo-Addo also called on citizens to play their part while urging continued investment in civic education and the promotion of a culture of political tolerance, which he said was another essential pillar of a sustainable democracy.
“As leaders, we should set the example. We should engage in respectful discourse, avoid inflammatory rhetorics and work to create an environment where all citizens feel free to express their views without fear of retribution,” the President said.
He said only by advancing a culture of political tolerance “can we ensure that our democracy remains vibrant and inclusive”.
The President said the upcoming elections would be another test of the people’s attachment to the values of democracy and, therefore, prayed and expressed the hope that “we will pass this test with flying colours”.
He charged all to approach the elections with the seriousness and sense of responsibility that they deserved.
“Let us conduct ourselves in a manner that brings honour to our nation and reinforces our allegiance to democracy,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
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Lies, disinformation
President Akufo-Addo also warned against the politics of lies, disinformation, and misinformation in the run-up to the December polls, saying those elements undermined the democratic process and eroded public trust.
He said the spread of propaganda and falsehoods could mislead voters, distort the truth, and create unnecessary tension within the body politic and that political actors, the media, and citizens alike had a shared responsibility to ensure that information disseminated was accurate, verified, and truthful.
He said by committing to transparency and integrity in all communications, “we can safeguard the electoral process from the damaging effects of misinformation and disinformation and ensure that decisions are made based on facts rather than fabrications”.
Bar
Turning attention to members of the bar, President Akufo-Addo said members of the association must carry the heavy responsibility of ensuring that the public was accurately informed about legal matters.
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Their responsibility was not just about explaining the law, but also about shaping public perception and understanding of the justice system, he added.
The President pointed out that in a society where misinformation could easily spread, it was critical that the bar acted as a reliable source of information in guiding the public to comprehend complex legal issues.
“It is with respect and responsibility for officials of the Bar Association to give the impression to the public that the use of the word ‘perverse’ by no less an official than the Attorney General and official leader of the Bar to describe the judgement of the court is somehow reprehensible”.
“The author of such a view betrays complete ignorance of the language of practice in the courts. It is a perfectly acceptable, hallowed use of language, so to designate certain decisions of the court,” he explained.
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He called on the GBA to take the lead in educating the public, clarifying those issues, and reinforcing trust in the legal institutions.
Illegal mining
Providing updates on the fight against illegal mining, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, said between August 2021 and September, this year, his office prosecuted and convicted 76 persons, including 18 foreigners on illegal mining charges.
He said the convicts included Chinese galamsey queen, Aisha Huang, who was convicted on December 4, 2023 of offences committed between 2014 and 2016 in the era of the previous government.
He added that most of the convicts were sentenced under the new law – the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995) to a minimum of 15 years, plus a heavy fine in the case of a Ghanaian, and a minimum of 20 years, plus a hefty fine for a non-Ghanaian.
Mr Dame said currently, over 140 cases of illegal mining involving over 850 accused persons were being prosecuted in courts in the Western, Eastern, Ashanti, Greater-Accra and Upper East regions, with some near conclusion.
“Illegal mining (galamsey) continues to cause incalculable damage to our forest reserves and river bodies,” he said.
Judgement debts
The Attorney-General further disclosed that the era where unwarranted, dubious and scandalous judgement debts were secured against the state was over.
That, he said, followed measures his office had put in place to defend the state against those claims.
“Through an unwavering commitment to justice and the protection of the interests of the State, the Office of the Attorney General has succeeded in saving the state many billions of United States dollars, being the equivalent of over GH¢15 trillion in numerous civil litigations in Ghana and various international fora since I assumed office,” Mr Dame said.
Strides
Highlighting some strides made by his office so far, the Attorney-General disclosed that during 2021/2022, the capacity of the office was augmented with the recruitment of about 60 attorneys.
He announced that processes were currently underway to employ another batch of 70 fresh attorneys, with interviews scheduled for the latter part of the month, to bring the number of attorneys recruited over the past three years to 130.
“My vision is that in the near future, to ensure cohesion in the public service and avoid an uncoordinated approach which leads to inefficiencies, all lawyers working for each of these public institutions ought to be employed by the Office of the Attorney-General,” he added.
Non-partisan GBA
The President of the GBA, Yaw Boafo, assured the people of the country that it would jealously guard its integrity and continue to be neutral at all times in the country's political dispensation.
"The GBA has never, is not and shall never be an appendage of any political party,” Mr Boafo stated, stressing the need to defend and protect the sanity of the country.
In a speech that lasted for more than an hour, the President of the association said the primary allegiance of the GBA was to the law and the principles of justice, and not to any political entity, and therefore called on legal practitioners to be committed to ethical standards and serve as impartial arbiters in the pursuit of justice.
Mr Boafo also called on the media to be circumspect in their reportage ahead of the coming elections, and not publish news that could derail the peace of the country.