Samuel Tettey
The Electoral Commission (EC) has assured the general public that it is working with the security agencies and leadership of the political parties to ensure that laid down procedures required at places where collation of parliamentary results are ongoing are followed.
Deputy Chair of the EC in charge of Operations, Mr. Samuel Tettey, who made this known at a press briefing yesterday in Accra, said the support would help bring an end to all collation of results in outstanding constituencies.
He said collation of results is done in accordance with the legal requirements as enshrined in C.I.127 of its regulations, which requires every political party to present two agents to the collation centre, and also directs that collation be done by the returning officer and any other officer designated by the EC.
He, however, said that some supporters of the political parties besieged some collation centres, threatened, physically abused officers, and destroyed properties contrary to the legal requirements on collation of parliamentary results.
“The supporters of the political parties are also ordering our staff under duress to declare results that are not reflected on the pink sheets,” he said.
The Deputy Chair of the EC also mentioned that the staff of the Commission have indicated that despite security presence at the collation centres, they still feel extremely unsafe.
Apart from Ablekuma North collation centre, some other places where some supporters of the political parties have interfered and vandalised its materials are Dome-Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, Tema Central and Ayensuano constituencies.
He said the Commission, desirous of upholding the laws that govern its operations, ordered that collation of results for the Ablekuma North halted temporarily until the proper legal and security structures were restored.
“Evidence of these threats in other collation centres have been rife on TV and radio, which show images of party supporters burning and vandalising property, destroying ballot papers and pink sheets, and physically abusing our staff,” he added.
He said the ‘modus operandi’ by these people has been to besiege its collation centres and destroy everything in sight, including pink sheets and ballot papers, which are important to establish the outcome of the election.
“Why should documents that confirm the outcome of the election be destroyed by these supporters?” he quizzed.
He, therefore, called on all political parties to withdraw their supporters from the collation centres, while also assuring the public that the Commission is currently working with the leadership of the security agencies and the political parties to ensure that the laid down legal procedures are enforced as required.
Mr. Tettey further stated that though the collation of results for Ablekuma North has commenced again, challenges faced by the Commission will not hinder the collation of results in the other constituencies, as it resolves to ensure that legal processes are followed in a way that guarantees that the choice of the citizens is upheld.