Charlotte Osei
There were mixed reactions and diverse views on the date for this year’s general election at a public forum yesterday.
Although the majority approved the new date, they expressed great worry about the preparedness of the Electoral Commission to conduct free, fair and transparent elections on the proposed date – November 7.
The views were expressed by stakeholders, including political parties, democratic think-tanks, religious groups, media organisations and individuals at a public forum yesterday organized by the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament.
It was occasioned by a constitutional amendment bill which is before parliament seeking to change the elections date from December 7 to November 7.
Out of the 23 registered parties which were invited by the committee, only four – the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and the National Democratic Party (NDP) – took part in the forum, with the Christian Council of Ghana, Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA), Muslims Union of Ghana, represented by the office of the Chief Imam, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), the Institute of Democratic Governance, Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) availing themselves to present their positions on the new bill.
General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who led his party’s delegation, told the committee that the party was fully in support of the change of date from December 7 to November 7.
According to him, the party had been part of all programmes of the EC and all consensus building at IPAC that led to the timetable set by the EC for the general elections.
He, however, said that it was important for the process of changing the date to be fast-tracked to allow for the smooth conduct of the elections and enable all the stakeholders to prepare adequately.
Chairman of the PPP, Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond, also told the committee that his party was in total agreement with the new date, arguing that pushing the date further to December would make political parties spend more money on the elections.
“We as a party have already programmed our activities to coincide with November 7 and any change could affect us,” the PPP chairman said.
Campaign Manager of the NPP, Peter Mac-Manu, who also led the NPP team, told the committee that in principle, the party agrees with the amendment and change of date but it has serious worries as to whether the EC is indeed ready to conduct the elections on November 7.
According to the NPP representative, the EC had not been consistent in terms of dates for its programmes towards the elections.
He said the NPP was extremely worried about when the new CI would mature and whether there could be adequate time for the EC to go through all the procurement processes for election materials and the smooth implementation of the election timetable in a manner that would not result in any kind of confusion in the end.
National Women’s Leader of NDP, Peace Aryee, said the NDP had serious reservations about the lackadaisical attitude of the EC in cleaning the voters’ register and also ensuring that there is a level-playing field that will ensure free, fair and transparent elections.
According to her, the NDP does not agree with the modalities the EC will use to clean the register of dead voters, minors, foreigners and NHIS card holders, stressing that adhering to the November 7 date could indeed create problems for the country.
A representative of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Dr Franklin Oduro, said the amendment could be carried out but because of the short period of time and the intricacies of election processes, the new date could be reserved for the 2020 general elections and not for this year’s.
The representative of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, said the council agrees to the new date but noted that there was the need for the EC to carry out sustained education on the change of date so that many voters would become conversant with it and turn up in their numbers to vote on that date.
President of the Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA), Dr Roland Affail Monney, said journalists are ever prepared to cover the elections on whichever date is set, but pointed out that journalists who would be covering the elections must be given full protection by the state to be able to transmit exactly what is happening on the ground.
Two members of the public, Christopher Owusu Marfo, a teacher and Prophet Stephen Asare were of the view that the November 7 date, which falls on a Monday, could affect turnout at the polling stations and therefore wanted a new day like a Tuesday or a Friday.
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong said she could not answer questions relating to the EC but as far as the government was concerned, the bill had been thoroughly discussed at the cabinet level and that it (government) was very much committed to its implementation.
EC Budget
The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu, who was also present at the forum, assured the committee that as a member of the government’s economic team, he could give 100 percent assurance that the president had committed enough money for the smooth conduct of the elections.
According to the minister, out of the EC’s budget of GH¢822 million, the government had released GH¢693 million and that it was prepared to pay for any other extra cost incurred by the EC.
He said the Finance Minister had also made adequate financial provision for a possible run-off.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr