EC boss apologises for inability to meet Minority

The leader of the Minority in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu has shared the details of a letter written to him by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, a day after he was unable to present a petition to the EC.

In the letter dated December 23, 2020, which was shared by the Minority Leader on Facebook, the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensah confirms receipt of the petition and apologises for the inability of the EC to meet the Minority on Tuesday, December 22, 2020.

The letter signed by the EC Chair said the Commission was unable to meet the Minority because of the late receipt of the letter informing it of their intention to present the letter.

The EC further assured that it remains committed to resolving issues arising from the December 7 election that is within its mandate and it will study the Minority petition and respond in the shortest possible time.

"On behalf of the Electoral Commission, I write to acknowledge receipt of your letter and petition dated the 21st of December, 2020," the letter reads.

"We apologize for our inability to meet with you and your delegation. This stemmed from the late receipt of your letter.

"We assure you that our doors remain open should you wish to present the petition in person to the Commission Meanwhile the Commission will study the contents of the petition and respond within the shortest possible time.

"As a Commission, we remain committed to resolving issues arising from the just-ended election which are within our mandate".

Background

After a standoff with the Police on December 22, 2020, at the Electoral Commission office in Accra, the Minority led by the Minority leader was unable to present the 21-point petition to the EC because neither the Chairperson nor any official was around to receive it.

The Minority Leader later in an address threatened that the NDC Minority caucus would boycott any appearance by the EC in Parliament because they did not grant them an audience.

Among other things, the Minority petition is demanding that the Electoral Commission (EC) collates the Techiman South Constituency Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Results from all the 266 Polling stations in accordance with the law.

The Minority contends that the Returning Officer for the Techiman South Constituency in the Bono East Region could not collate the results for both the Presidential and the Parliamentary candidates after the polling stations results had been counted and all Ballot Boxes sent to the Collation Centre in accordance with C.I. 127 on December 7, 2020.

"That we are reliably informed by the NDC Parliamentary Candidate that, no collation of the results from the various polling stations has taken place since the elections ended at the close of polls on the 7th of December, 2020; yet a declaration purported to have been made by the Electoral Commission in favour of the NPP Candidate is now public information," the petition states.

The petition adds that the Minority is fully aligned with the "contention of our Flagbearer, H.E. John Dramani Mahama and the National Executive Committee of the NDC that the results of the Presidential Elections stands rejected and therefore we await further instruction from the party’s leadership in that regard".