The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and some political think-tanks with an inclination to the opposition party appear to have forgotten that long before the appointments of Dr. Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani to the Electoral Commission (EC), the daughter of a former Northern Regional Chairman of the then ruling NDC held a similar position.
The lady served her term until she exited on retirement and nobody made noise about it. Her position on the elections management body did not attract the kind of brouhaha the recent ones have. The reason is simple: the NDC is suspicious that the appointments will have a negative influence on their fortunes.
Those who are used to pocket-picking will always be suspicious of others of being in their trade.
That is why for every development regarding elections in this country, the NDC has always been vociferous in their opposition and baselessly so. From the times of opaque ballot boxes and black and white voter ID cards to where we are today, they have been opposed to developments intended to enhance the integrity of elections and they have not stopped.
The Constitutional Instrument (CI) intended to make only the Ghana Card the sole prerequisite for registration as a voter suffered their opposition with the former President lending support.
Shouldn’t we as a people learn to trust personalities offered appointments to serve the nation rather than expressing such fears about whether or not the appointees will be fair or not?
The NDC, because of its blemished integrity and proclivity to engaging in electoral machinations in the past, is always jittery when non-NDC persons are appointed to positions which demand a high level of integrity.
The NDC has reportedly written to the Council of State expressing concern about the appointment of the two persons.
The current state of the EC integrity et al puts it poles apart from previous times when the NDC could interfere in its work.
In any case there is no way such appointments can impugn the integrity of elections in the country.
Put bluntly NDC in the past appointed persons to the EC who were aligned to it directly or indirectly.
When it comes to such issues, it pays to be honest. Indulging in such double standards as being displayed does not help the cause of democratic growth of the country. We have had enough of the balderdash from NDC quarters.
Even with the justifiable bashing of the one-time EC Chairperson Charlotte Osei whose NDC inclination was household knowledge, she could not withhold declaring Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo winner of the elections she superintended.
We have gone past those days when elections could be manipulated by persons at the EC headquarters.