Accra, Ghana//- A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has mounted more pressure on the two politically exposed members of the Electoral Commission (EC) who were recently appointed to the electoral management body by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to resign.
Members of the coalition
According to the coalition comprising Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), STAR Ghana Foundation, Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), and Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), the two EC members are politically tainted and therefore not fit for their current positions.
The two politically exposed EC commissioners
The two Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani were well-known activists and sympathisers of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) at their time of appointment in March this year.
Speaking at a roundtable organized by CDD-Ghana to assess Ghana’s election-related activities in 2023 and their implications for the 2024 general elections, the CSOs noted that although the appointments were legally right, they were ethically wrong.
Appointments could affect the credulity of EC
If the President who appointed them did not revoke their appointments after several evidence that the two were not neural, could affect the credibility of the electoral management body as well as the results of the 2024 elections, the CSOs argued.
They were quick to add appointing the two politically exposed persons to such delicate positions is dangerous to the country’s peace and stability.
Impact on public trust in the EC
The Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement of CDD-Ghana, Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, in a presentation hit the nail on the head that these partisan appointments had the propensity to directly impact public trust in the EC which is an all-time low.
He therefore appealed to the two members of the EC who have partisan affiliations to resign.
Dr. Asante also urged the EC to consider expansion of the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise beyond the district offices.
Whilst calling on the EC to step up efforts to increase public awareness and interest in the upcoming District Level Election (DLE), he asked the EC to strengthen its communication strategy to provide continuous, comprehensive, and prompt information to election stakeholders.
To his fellow members of the CSOs, Dr. Asante encouraged them to come out with reforms ahead of the 2024 general elections to ensure free and fair elections in the country.
Dr Asante observed that under the current dispensation of Ghana’s two-term rule, any party going into an election at the end of the eighth year is in a difficult and vulnerable situations.
Panel discussion
In a panel discussion moderated by Evans Mensah of Multimedia Group, the Executive Director of the GII, Mary Addah challenged Ghanaians to take up the challenge to save the country.
According to her, what is happening to other countries over electoral disputes should be a concern to the country and its people.
“Ghanaians must not lose sight of the fact that next year’s elections can be tough against the backdrop of what is currently happening, including the limited registration exercise, and nothing should be done to aggravate the already perceived tension”, Madam Addah advised.
The Head of programmes of STAR Ghana Foundation, Madam Eunice Rachael Agbanyedzi, who shared the panel with Madam and other panelists called on Ghanaians to own the electoral process.
Contributing to the panel discussion, the Research and Programs Officer at IDEG, Paul Lawer Kennedy; and Kwaku Krobea Asante of MFWA said the government should take proactive measures to address the concerns raised by the CSOs.
The two also appealed to journalists and other media practitioners to strengthen their gatekeeping roles by not allowing fake news and disinformation to pass through their media channels.
The roundtable was also attended by representatives of the various political parties including the NPP, the National Democratic Congress and the People’s National Convention.
