UNITAS Foundation lauds Electoral Commission
UNITAS Foundation, an election observer organization has credited the Electoral Commission (EC) for ensuring that peace prevailed in the country during the 2016 general elections.
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UNITAS arrived at this conclusion after deploying close to 40 observers throughout the country, primarily in the Greater Accra region to monitor the polls at 60 polling stations.
A statement signed by Moses Tetteh, the Director of the UNITAS Foundation said the elections were well organised with fewer queues recorded at polling stations because of an increase in the number of polling stations.
The statement also congratulated the Electoral Commission, President Mahama, President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo and the various political parties for safeguarding the peace in the country.
Below is the entire statement;
UNITAS FOUNDATION ELECTION OBSERVER GROUP
UNITAS FOUNDATION has been an election observer organization since the year 2000. This year 2016, UNITAS deployed close to 40 observers throughout the country primarily in the greater Accra area and were present at about 60 polling stations.
Our observations were that it was a very well organized election that ensured that there was peace. Very commendable were the reduction of voters per polling station that reduced pressure during voting. The main drawback was that some voters could not easily find their polling stations and had to spend some time to find them.
The security comprising mainly the police was very alert and efficient. Many of the presiding officers and polling agents were well trained and did their job well, including being polite to voters. By 2pm many polling stations had very few voters in the queue as the majority of voters had already voted.
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Most voting materials and personnel had arrived at the polling stations before 6 am and this enabled the stations to start on time. Very few lines of voters were present at the stations at closing time at 5pm and this enabled counting of votes to start on time. There were almost no disputes when the stations announced the results of the voting and the results were duly signed at the polling stations.
UNITAS FOUNDATION can affirm that the December 7th 2016 national elections in Ghana were indeed free, fair and transparent as we observed a reliable degree of compliance with Election Day rules and procedures within polling stations by all stakeholders directly involved.
We therefore congratulate the Electoral Commission, President Mahama, President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo, the various political parties, the local and foreign observer groups, the polling officers, polling agents and the voters for a peaceful election. We finally congratulate the people of Ghana who are the true winners.
By: Moses Tetteh, Director of UNITAS FOUNDATION